Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

CIA may need decade to rebuild clandestine service
Yahoo News ^ | 1/1/06 | David Morgan

Posted on 01/01/2006 5:55:58 PM PST by ricks_place

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A former CIA counterterrorism officer who tracked Osama bin Laden through the mountains of Afghanistan says the U.S. spy agency could need a decade to build up its clandestine service for the U.S. war on terrorism.

Gary Berntsen, a decorated espionage officer who led a paramilitary unit code-named "Jawbreaker" in the war that toppled the Taliban after the September 11 attacks, said CIA Director Porter Goss faces an uphill battle to fill the agency's senior ranks with aggressive, seasoned operatives.

"He's probably more aggressive than most of the senior officers in the clandestine service. So I think he's having to pull them along a bit," Berntsen said in an interview.

"(Goss) is trying to improve the situation. But it's going to be tough. The rebuilding is going to take years. A decade, at least," he told Reuters late last week.

The CIA, widely criticized for lapses involving prewar Iraq and the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington, has seen its clandestine staff dwindle to less than 5,000 employees from a peak of over 7,000, intelligence sources say.

Experts blame a post-Cold War downturn in recruitment for a current lack of seasoned clandestine operatives that has been exacerbated by a rush to lucrative private sector jobs in recent years.....

(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: cia; clintonlegacy; helpwanted; jawbreaker; spying
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-74 next last
Wasn't the CIA driven out of the covert operative business by some Democrat Congress?
1 posted on 01/01/2006 5:56:00 PM PST by ricks_place
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: ricks_place
Church to the Torch with many conspirators.
2 posted on 01/01/2006 5:58:55 PM PST by ncountylee (Dead terrorists smell like victory)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ricks_place

Frank Church..


3 posted on 01/01/2006 5:58:59 PM PST by Dog ( ABMcM(Anybody but McCain....except Bill Frist))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ricks_place

Why does it take a decade to fire the useless political people (Plame, Clarke etc), and hire guys who know what they are doing and don't run to the NY Times when they don't get their way?


4 posted on 01/01/2006 5:59:26 PM PST by Democratshavenobrains
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ricks_place

Yes and now the Democrats want our technical collection capability crippled too!


5 posted on 01/01/2006 6:00:09 PM PST by Doctor Raoul (Raoul's First Law of Journalism: BIAS = LAYOFFS)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Dog

I cannot understand why there aren't massive dismissals in the agency under Goss.


6 posted on 01/01/2006 6:00:31 PM PST by oceanview
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Dog

Frank Church AND Otis Pike.


7 posted on 01/01/2006 6:00:42 PM PST by Doctor Raoul (Raoul's First Law of Journalism: BIAS = LAYOFFS)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: oceanview

You can't gut the team in the middle of the third quarter.....you play with the players on the field....and say a prayer.


8 posted on 01/01/2006 6:02:10 PM PST by Dog ( ABMcM(Anybody but McCain....except Bill Frist))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: oceanview

There have been a number of people who have quit....

Guess they don't like living under Goss' expectations


9 posted on 01/01/2006 6:03:41 PM PST by misterrob
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: Dog

but are these guys even playing on our team? at some point, consolidation under a smaller but more focused set of managers makes more sense. private industry functions this way all the time.


10 posted on 01/01/2006 6:04:46 PM PST by oceanview
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: ricks_place

Where is Jack Bauer when you need him?


11 posted on 01/01/2006 6:06:03 PM PST by manwiththehands (My wish for the new year: I wish Republicans were running the country.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: oceanview
I cannot understand why there aren't massive dismissals in the agency under Goss.

The dismissal cases are being assembled, no doubt. It seems many of the rats are feeling the pressure and either squealing (revealing secrets), jumping ship (resigning), or both (Plame).

12 posted on 01/01/2006 6:06:16 PM PST by ricks_place
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: manwiththehands

in re-runs on A&E.


13 posted on 01/01/2006 6:07:54 PM PST by oceanview
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: oceanview
Question how do you consolidate in a time of war...when you need all hands on deck. I understand where you are coming from...but you can't be wily nilly using the scalpel.
14 posted on 01/01/2006 6:08:09 PM PST by Dog ( ABMcM(Anybody but McCain....except Bill Frist))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: ricks_place

That and they have concentrated on recruiting people with Master's Degrees from prestigious universities who not the kind of people who would likely give up their $500,000 homes in Potomac or Georgetown to go live with the Taliban for three or four years at a time like John Walker Lindh did.


15 posted on 01/01/2006 6:08:48 PM PST by FreedomCalls (It's the "Statue of Liberty," not the "Statue of Security.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: FreedomCalls

Exactly..


16 posted on 01/01/2006 6:10:39 PM PST by Dog ( ABMcM(Anybody but McCain....except Bill Frist))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: ricks_place

What he is really saying is that it will take a decade to cull all of the Clinton holdovers left on board the CIA and establish a new agency made up of Patriots that can and will do the job.

Another poster stated that Goss is putting pressure on these floks and they are responding with leaks, that mayvery well be. Lately it certainly appears to be so.

Mr, Bush waited far too long to start this effort , it should have been started the day he was Inaugurated.


17 posted on 01/01/2006 6:12:17 PM PST by sgtbono2002
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Dog
You can't gut the team in the middle of the third quarter.....you play with the players on the field....and say a prayer.

How many generals did Lincoln go through before settling on Grant? I recall one of them was so opposed to what Lincoln wanted, that he ended up as the opposition candidate for the '64 elections. Imagine trying to run the war with him (McClellan) still in charge of the Army and politically opposed to Lincoln.

18 posted on 01/01/2006 6:13:08 PM PST by FreedomCalls (It's the "Statue of Liberty," not the "Statue of Security.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: oceanview
"in re-runs on A&E."

Better: "24" DVD's from Netflix. No stupid commercials whatsoever. I love it.

I watched the first 3 seasons last year and now I'm in the middle of watching the 4th.

Jack Bauer is my alter-ego. :-)

19 posted on 01/01/2006 6:16:56 PM PST by manwiththehands (My wish for the new year: I wish Republicans were running the country.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: ricks_place

Just get it done. Even if it takes the ten years.


20 posted on 01/01/2006 6:16:58 PM PST by popdonnelly
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-74 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson