US Secret Service Embattled

DEBKAfile Special Report ^ | May 6, 2006, 10:03 PM (GMT+02:00)

[Marine_Uncle]

"All things on balance, I am also optimistic that this may be another good Bush appointment."
Let us hope so. The good general probably got the credentials for doing a good job. For all we know he may be a good administrator as well.
Just a few extra thoughts If I may. With the expanded role SOCOM is to play. With Hayden in the CIA we are not going to be hearing about the CIA complaining the military is assuming some roles that where more in line with what the CIA may have provided in the past. I really think GWB has a lot of deep thinkers with high degree of expertise carefully considering all angles as how best we can integrate all our Intellegience groups both civilian as well as military, and the FBI into a cohesive operation that will at all levels be able to combat all types of terrorist groups, both sectarian as well as state controlled, and in between.
We need team players at all levels within our Intel orgs. The old crap about turf wars has to stop. It has for so long damage our ability to utilize our intel orgs to their full potential.
They must of course stay within the bounds of their charters but, have the ability and williness to act very quickly in unisons when any threat to this country is detected.
Lastly. As you well know, the CIA has a long history of links with the former KGB etc.. What better way to start further cleaning shop then to put in a red blooded American patriot as Director of the CIA. I'll leave that to your imagination.

[ClaireSolt]

All I have heard since Woolsey is that the CIA is on autopilot. No matter wh the head is, he has no power or authority. They do their own thing.

[Marine_Uncle]

"All I have heard since Woolsey is that the CIA is on autopilot. No matter wh the head is, he has no power or authority. They do their own thing."
That is why GWB wants the good general to assume the Directorship. Time to really clean house. And take the autopilot control out of the agency. We may in the next few months hear a lot of firings and bitching. Time to clean up once and for all. If we lose experienced people. So be it. Of course that is easy for me to say. But what alternatives exist? GWB seems quite serious in changing the CIA into a organization any POTUS can really depend on.

[Ben Hecks]

Military intelligence is important. So is a separate agency like the CIA.

I agree that it would not be a good idea to roll all of the CIA's missions into other organizations. The successes of the CIA and Spec Ops in Afghanistan lead me to think that they have some very capable operations personnel. I would hope that they are also improving their intelligence gathering ability. The upper layers of the organization that process and analyze intelligence is where I think most of the problems lie. Sometimes a reorganization is a good tool to week out under-performers and that may be where Hayden's experience could be particularly useful.

[Doctor Stochastic]

Most interesting is DEBKA's ignorance of the terms used in the US government. "Secret Service" is not the ususal US term for the CIA. The Secret Service is a Treasury Department agency that guards the money and the president (in some order of priority.) "Secret Service" is a Europeanism; not wrong to use the term, but not very good journalism when referring to the US. DEBKA's reliability is somewhere between the Star and the Weekly World News.

[Marine_Uncle]

"Sometimes a reorganization is a good tool to week out under-performers and that may be where Hayden's experience could be particularly useful."
Surely this is why the POTUS is adamant in putting a guy like Hayden in the Directorship. As for CIA field ops. They place their lives on the line. I don't think the plan is to neuter them, but to simply as you indicated improve their methods of analysis and internal operations AND adminstration. As one freeper mentioned, Woosey has been quoted as saying the CIA has been on autopilot for to long.
Time to get off autopilot. The CIA needs a capable pilot in the cockpit. One that does not think twice about pulling the frigen rivots out of the wings, and going into a split S on a moments notice, at low altitudes.
And Hayden just may be the pilot they need to keep them from crashing.

[ClaireSolt]

Npoone has mentioned that Papa Bush was a CIA director and thus Bushes may have some special insight and strong opinions on the subject.

[Marine_Uncle]

I am sure you are right on the money. And GHB probably knows some folks that have been embedded a long time that may need to be examined a bit closer. I for one tend to forget somethimes institutions like this often have people long entrenched, that simply are not under the spot light, but can have profound effects on how things are ran. For that matter it is no different then the business community,local, state government. Hopefully more bad apples will be routed out without significantly effecting the over all operations.

[strategofr]

"I agree that it would not be a good idea to roll all of the CIA's missions into other organizations."

Yes.

"The successes of the CIA and Spec Ops in Afghanistan lead me to think that they have some very capable operations personnel."

I also attach tremendous importance to the Afghanistan operation. though there have been so negative indicators about the CIA, this operation makes it clear that a number of good people have managed to survive inside the agency. In addition to good operations people, there must be good people on the intelligence side as well for something like that to work.

As to the rest of your comments: hopefully you are correct. Just at the moment, it seems far from certain that this guy will even become the new head of the CIA.

[evets]

Debka!

[strategofr]

"Most interesting is DEBKA's ignorance of the terms used in the US government. "Secret Service" is not the ususal US term for the CIA. The Secret Service is a Treasury Department agency that guards the money and the president (in some order of priority.) "Secret Service" is a Europeanism; not wrong to use the term, but not very good journalism when referring to the US. DEBKA's reliability is somewhere between the Star and the Weekly World News."

Your point is well taken and has been made by two other people on this thread as well. While they should do better in this regard, I do not agree with your valuation of Debka. I have found them to provide very good information most of the time, as far as I can tell---often the best information that I can find.

I am just a working stiff like everyone else and spend limited time gathering information about these things. I'm not claiming that there may not be better sources of information, but personally I haven't found them.

First of all, Debka Files is an Israeli site, which explains at least in part why they know less about the United States that we do. Second of all, I suspect it is a pretty small organization. That said, I repeat once again that your point is well taken and this is a mistake they should not of made.