Thanks, I'm only spinning a story out my head that makes sense to me, I don't have any real info, but it just seems to me that what Hayden described in a lengthy Q&A which I linked to this afternoon was a process of reorg and streamlining of the intel community (the 14 agencies or so) which would have to require further major steps at the CIA to dramatically reform how it's all been done in the past. Hayden has been Negroponte's point man and #2 on this process. Goss did as much as he could in 18+ months and now it was time for Negroponte and Hayden to take the reins more tightly and really put their vision in place. Of course there might (or might not) have been any particular precipitating events behind the scenes, but this strikes me as a very likely outcome even if Goss and Negronponte got along perfectly and shared 100% the same vision and operating sense. I'm not saying they do, just that Goss was not interested in being around for the next 5-10 years (from what I've heard and read) and it really was time to put in place a new Director of the CIA who Negroponte and President Bush felt 100% sure could take their vision forward for the next 5-10 years.
My problem with this is....for some reason, I don't really trust Negroponte...and I was not happy when Congress set up his job to have overarching power over the CIA and other agencies...
I thought that Bush, unlike Clinton, wanted every day contact with the CIA Director...but the way it is set up now, I heard that Goss doesn't have the access that he would have had under the "old" system.
Re: Negroponte...he is a career diplomat...which means "getting along" with people...instead of getting "rid" of people...and I know I read that he did not want Bush to release the documents and tapes from Iraq...
Why??