The CIA is being accused of censoring an FBI agent’s book on the fight against terrorism in order to keep the intelligence agency from looking bad.

FBI agent Ali Soufan has written a memoir about his days as a counterterrorism expert from 1997 to 2005, during which he was heavily involved in the struggle against Al Qaeda. In his book ( The Black Banners: The Inside Story of 9/11 and the War Against Al Qaeda ), Soufan claims the CIA withheld information from the FBI about two of the 9/11 hijackers which could have helped thwart the attack. He also says the CIA’s use of torture on detainees was unnecessary and counterproductive.

“Neither critique of the CIA is new,” writes Scott Shane in The New York Times. “In fact, some of the information that the agency argues is classified, according to two people who have seen the correspondence between the FBI and CIA, has previously been disclosed in open Congressional hearings, the report of the national commission on 9/11 and even the 2007 memoir of George J. Tenet, the former CIA director.”

In a classic example of government illogic, Jennifer Youngblood, speaking officially on behalf of the CIA, excused the censorship by saying, “Just because something is in the public domain doesn’t mean it’s been officially released or declassified by the U.S. government.”

Soufan argues that the parts of his book that the CIA wants removed will not protect national security, but merely shield the reputation of the spy agency.

-Noel Brinkerhoff