Step 2: Abandon the leaky and probably worthless ship and set fire to it.
Step 3: Repeat the process at the State Department.
Posted on 05/09/2006 10:48:34 PM PDT by Enchante
.........
Regrettably, reform at the CIA is now dead. The only real chance opened immediately after 9/11 and closed when President Bush decided to retain the services of George Tenet, who always remained close and sympathetic to the operations directorate. Ms. Harman, many other prominent Democrats, and the anti-Bush press have put another nail into the clandestine service's coffin by rallying around an organization that desperately needs to be radically deconstructed. However tepidly or lazily Mr. Goss approached his work, he and his abrasive minions ought to be complimented for at least firing somebody. Given the history of the CIA, this is not an insignificant achievement.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Ping! This is a depressing look at the institutional and cultural failings at the CIA - Gerecht thinks it's pretty much hopeless for reform it no matter who is in charge.
The CIA is obsolete. Bush currently uses the place as a repository for malcontents. The real power is with DIA and Negroponte - - exactly the way Bush wants it. The rogue Plame/Wilson operation and the leak campaign are nothing more than annoying tantrums thrown by mischief-makers at CIA and State (which is another department that has made itself utterly useless).
Don't worry about the CIA - - it doesn't matter anymore. Negroponte's deputy, Hayden, will keep an eye on the place and (maybe, hopefully) finish it off. Or at least find a constructive way to use it - - maybe for disinformation campaigns that the operatives and the various Plame-style pencil pushers there aren't even aware of, LOL!
bookmarking for comment in the morning.
** for later
Adding this to the debate in the effort to determine what happened and what it all means.
"However tepidly or lazily Mr. Goss approached his work, he and his abrasive minions ought to be complimented for at least firing somebody. Given the history of the CIA, this is not an insignificant achievement."
I have no idea about how left wing this writer may be. One of the best kept secrets of WSJ is their so called reporters are ranked more liberal than the Ny Slimes bozos. Only the editorial staff and not all of them at the WSJ should be called conservative.
Inspite of the barbs from this article and the left wing mediots aimed at Peter Goss, I am starting to believe that the Farm is beyond salvage. Goss and his people probably confirmed the CIA is a lost cause and let Negroponte and GW know that. They started the purging with the firing of Mary McTraitor, and more firings are in process.
Laney Howard posted an interesting reply: "The CIA is obsolete. Bush currently uses the place as a repository for malcontents. The real power is with DIA and Negroponte - - exactly the way Bush wants it. The rogue Plame/Wilson operation and the leak campaign are nothing more than annoying tantrums thrown by mischief-makers at CIA and State (which is another department that has made itself utterly useless)."
"Don't worry about the CIA - - it doesn't matter anymore. Negroponte's deputy, Hayden, will keep an eye on the place and (maybe, hopefully) finish it off. Or at least find a constructive way to use it - - maybe for disinformation campaigns that the operatives and the various Plame-style pencil pushers there aren't even aware of, LOL!"
Probably the last valid intel from the CIA came before and during the Cuban Crisis. Even then, their intel role was probably minimal versus our other sources.
In the corporate world, when employees become loyal to themselves and causes which harm the corporation at certain sites/locations. Sometimes the best/only way to handle the situation is to amputate that site by giving earlier retirement to some and firing the others. Then, close the doors, sell the property, and walk away.
As Laney noted, this may be the only way to handle the cancer/liberal infections at CIA. The same needs to be done at the State Department. If this is happening and is the intent of GW, it will be what Miss Marple labeled years ago, another stealth action by the Stealth President to get rid of and contain the liberals in key areas.
I certainly hope a good historian gets into the archives and writes a book about these years. There is lots of stuff going on that doesn't make it into the press.
I am interrested in the confirmation hearings for Hayden. Seems to me like the democrats will be walking into a trap.
Step 2: Abandon the leaky and probably worthless ship and set fire to it.
Step 3: Repeat the process at the State Department.
That is an excellent observation. Remember all of the lies/leaks/spins that came out of EPA in the first year after GW was sworn in.
"I certainly hope a good historian gets into the archives and writes a book about these years. There is lots of stuff going on that doesn't make it into the press."
You and some of your other investigative friends at Free Republic could put together a great book called 'GW, The Stealth President'.
"I am interrested in the confirmation hearings for Hayden. Seems to me like the democrats will be walking into a trap."
Inspite of all the braying and whining of the rats, most American Voters want/expect our intel to keep their families, friends and them safe. Someone needs to point out the current rats in Congress would have impeached FDR for what he did before the war and during the war to save and protect America from the Japanese and German Nazis.
From your keyboard to God's ears!!
Well .. Hayden reformed the NSA - so I think he can probably do a better job than most.
The only thing he's done so far I don't approve of is he rehired one of the people who Goss fired. Don't know the full story about it so I'm not sure how good or bad it might be.
Interestingly, many of the points brought out in this article have been voiced in bygone years. However it is a great summary as to the state of the CIA, as well as a solid counter punch to what some demos/repubs are whining about. The article pretty well speaks for itself with no embroidery required.
The way you reform a corrupt peace-time intel agency is the same way you reform a corrupt peacetime military. You can't really reform the existing institutions in their static state, you send them into battle, and you begin to identify and promote your warriors.
The others get sidelined. You can't really flush them out, sadly, but they become increasingly irrelevant as the attention and funding go to those new institutions that you are building, which answer to the new chain of command you are building.
In any organization, and especially in one being reformed against its will, you wind up during the transition with two chains of command; the official one, and the real one. Make sure the real one is the one you control, and make sure the real one gets the funding, and has immediate access to the top.
Furhter, those who said that we would know why Goss resigned within several hours or several days were wrong.
We still don't know. I wonder if we'll ever really know.
I am not encouraged that you are not encouraged.
bttt
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