Posted on 10/28/2004 12:49:15 AM PDT by Cableguy
Porter Goss' initial moves as CIA director appear to herald a post-election purge at the already troubled spy agency, according to current and former top U.S. intelligence officials.
Goss, a former Republican congressman, has put at least four former Capitol Hill Republican staffers into top positions in his CIA office and has given them broad authority to make personnel and restructuring decisions, the current and former intelligence officials said.
One of the aides, whose identity Knight Ridder is not disclosing because he served under cover, has been "going around telling people they are to fire 80 to 90 people" in the Directorate of Operations, the CIA's covert arm, according to a former official.
His account was repeated by several knowledgeable current and former officials who maintain close ties to the agency.
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Tensions between an incoming CIA director and the agency's veterans, particularly in the Directorate of Operations, are common, as they are in any large institution resistant to change.
Most observers agree the CIA, along with the rest of the U.S. intelligence community, is in need of reform.
A Senate Intelligence Committee report issued in July found the CIA's pre-war assessment that Iraq had hidden weapons of mass destruction programs was exaggerated, lacked evidence and was driven by "group think."
Goss, who was sworn in Sept. 24 to replace George Tenet, pledged during his confirmation hearings that he would be a nonpartisan CIA director.
But the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said they were concerned by the partisan affiliation of Goss' team.
"If he has brought strongly partisan staff with him - and he has - that seems to call (Goss's pledge) into question," said another top official, who recently left the CIA.
A CIA spokesman, who asked to remain unnamed, said Goss has made no decisions on restructuring.
"We are not at the structural phase yet," the spokesman said. "These people ought to be given a little time. It's been less than a month since he's (Goss) been sworn in. That goes for some of the people he has brought with him."
He denied the reports that up to 90 people will be ousted from their jobs, saying, "I have heard no conversations to support any changes close to that number as of yet."
Goss brought with him three former Republican staffers from the House intelligence panel: Pat Murray, who was his chief of staff; Merrill Moorehead, senior adviser on strategic programs; and Joseph Jakub, senior adviser on operations and analysis.
The fourth aide, whose name Knight Ridder is withholding, worked for some time as a GOP congressional staffer.
Amen to that, c.
yes, and get rid of GAY PRIDE DAY at the C.I.A.
All these desk jockeys and hacks will get big fat federal pensions so I have no sympathy.
This agency sure costs us a lot of money for the results they produce.
Are they worth the money?
I think not.
One thing worries me- there are a lot of people who are unhappy with some of the changes Bush is making, people in the State Dept. people in the CIA, European governments, Islamofascists, I'd go so far as to say a lot of Democrats would like to see harm befall the President. I hope Secret Service is being extra vigilant, there are a lot of DOMESTIC threats to the President's life these days, and the CIA still figures prominently in JFK conspiracy theories- he tried to shake that agency up as well remember. It just seems like there are a lot of parties interested in stopping the Bush agenda for the next 4 years, and they are very powerful parties.
So can someone explain to us how operations has gone awry. Is it that they have brought in bureaucrats from the outside to run what ought to be a bunch of tough experienced SOBs, or have they promoted incompetents from within - or a combination?
They're more like the NWO/INTERNATIONAL/CIA stooges...in line with others to do a take down of America. It's now becoming a PRO-American Company again!!! Go get'em Director Goss!!!!
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