CIA VS CNN

The CIA said Thursday that a man interviewed twice on CNN this week about
the war on drugs misrepresented himself as a former CIA agent.

Kenneth Bucchi, identified on CNN as a "former CIA narcotics officer,"
never worked for the agency in any capacity, the agency said.

CNN twice offered viewers an explanation --- but not an apology --- for
interviewing Bucchi. The network said Bucchi had published a book about the
CIA and been interviewed numerous times on television and radio without
challenge from the agency.

Bucchi said he worked for the CIA while in the U.S. Air Force and that the
only way he could prove his affiliation was if the CIA confirmed it.

Bucchi has charged that the CIA worked with Colombian drug traffickers to
wipe out small smugglers, and in return let the big cartels maintain a
limited flow of cocaine into this country.

CIA spokesman Bill Harlow said Bucchi's accusations were "absurd and simply
not true."

Bucchi appeared Monday afternoon on CNN and later that night on "The Point
With Greta Van Susteren."

Bucchi also appeared Jan. 29 on Fox News Channel's "The O'Reilly Factor,"
identified as "a former CIA operative."