Is the CIA Too Political?

There seems to be a lot of ex-CIA staffers with stories to tell (and books to sell) about how the Bush administation cherry-picked intelligence, and ignored warnings about post-invasion instability in Iraq. All very interesting, but exactly how impartial (and accurate) are these tales?

In a short article on the make-up of the CIA, its political leanings AND the background to the intelligence failings in the run up to the Iraq invasion, this article from AEI highlights how the CIA has promoted it's own agenda, obstructed political directives - and blamed it's failings on outside interests.