New Chief Sets Off Turmoil Within the C.I.A.

NY Times ^ | November 14, 2004 | DOUGLAS JEHL

[risk]

all their sources in jeopardy

Wouldn't be prudent, no sir. Betraying American agents and their foreign allies at a time of war? Not very prudent at all.

[zzen01]

Wow, you hit the nail squarely on the head!

[VaBthang4]

Summation: "Stuck Pigs Squeal"

Git'em Mr. Goss!!!

[Cutterjohnmhb]

Ahh and here comes the NYT's telling us how it really is, what took them so long./spit

[StJacques]

". . . I think we can be served better by people that have done some "living" along the way than Ivy league Theorists.

If you look at President Bush's history, he has an Ivy League background coupled with some "living" along the way.

Personal trials, successes, failures, and an understanding of life. . . ."

True words of wisdom Madman.

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Sounds like he's doing his job!

Now if we could only find someone capable of doing the same thing over at State...

[kitchen]

For now, former intelligence officials say, many career C.I.A. officers do not know whether to regard Mr. Goss as someone dispatched by the White House to punish the agency for past failures, or to rebuild its capabilities to make it stronger.

Why not both?

[paul51]

Can't these fat ass bureaucrats just do the job they are paid to do?

[denydenydeny]

Deep, unresolved tensions between new leaders and senior career officers at the Central Intelligence Agency threaten to set off a rebellion within the agency's clandestine service, according to current and former intelligence officials.

Why does the word PATCO come to mind here?

[SierraWasp]

That's NOT what he was talking about, at all! Are you OK???

[risk]

I didn't realize he was talking about the press's sources.

[pepsionice]

Both the CIA and NSA have a major problem on their hands. Its like a little mafia now in terms of employees. In the NSA...ole Tom who has been a faithful employee for 30 years and sat in the same office, and never ever moved from that office in 30 years...puts his daughter in for employment with the agency, and she sits down the hallway...bound for another 30 year career...and never moving, never changing, etc. This happens all the time.

In the CIA...they have constantly gone to special Ivy League programs and recruited constantly from them. Some division manager knows some professor, and they rank the grad's...and the CIA just walks in and offers them a GS-11 starting job...and everyone jumps at the bait. Its a joke. Go ask the CIA the last them they recruited some kid from a Kansas University...I bet its been at least 30 years.

[StJacques]

And pepsi, I'll take the kid from Kansas any day.

[SierraWasp]

Gotcha! (grin)

[risk]

I stood to be corrected :)

[Lancey Howard]

I happen to believe that the State Department is a bigger problem than the CIA when it comes to "leaks" and attempts to torpedo the Bush Administration. I realize that unloading the communists and Clintonistas from that place is a near-impossible task ("civil service" protection, etc.) but the scumbags can at least be relocated to dark basement cubicles or otherwise made uncomfortable enough to consider resigning and getting real jobs.

[StJacques]

"I happen to believe that the State Department is a bigger problem than the CIA when it comes to "leaks" and attempts to torpedo the Bush Administration. . . ."

Well I certainly won't argue that there are leaks coming out of the State Department and that it is "infected" with Clinton era appointees. But I still think the big leaks, and I'm speaking in comparative terms here, have come from the CIA because they're the ones "in the loop" for many of the damaging pieces we've seen released such as the assessments of the U.S. long-term possibilities for success in Iraq, the estimation of Iraqi resistance strength, and the pre-war estimation of Saddam's ability to wage war. The alternative agency to look at as "in the loop" on these matters would be the Defense Intelligence Agency, and when given the choice between naming them and the CIA as a source, I pick the CIA.

[5Madman2]

Don't know if I'd call it "wisdom". I've just experienced too many "educated" People that look at the world through the sterile prism of what they learned in school, but not in life.

We need a different mentality in Intelligence gathering and analysis. An education does not give people the ability to assess other peoples motivations and desires. Experience in dealing with them does

The ability to determine what those motivations and desires are, and exploit them, are what can drive a good HUMINT Program

[Ax]

The DO needs to limit its HQS staff to two year tours there. The rest of the time should be spent in the field. If they can't live with that, then maybe they're in the wrong line of work.

[5Madman2]

HQ staff is always one of those self perpetuating evils-a rotation plan is good, but once people get in they find ways to stop rotating out

2 years is a good template-keeps people fresh. They just need to make it ironclad