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| Bush Taps Rep. Porter Goss to Head CIA | |
| 2004-08-10 | |
| President Bush has chosen Rep. Porter Goss, chairman of the House intelligence committee and a one-time Army intelligence operative and CIA officer, to head the embattled agency. A senior administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Bush planned to announce the selection of the 65-year-old Goss later Tuesday during a White House appearance. Goss, a Republican from Florida, had been mentioned prominently in speculation about a successor to departed CIA Director George Tenet, who left amid a torrent of criticism of the agency's handling of prewar intelligence on Iraq. Bush's decision also comes in the wake of the president's embrace of a key recommendation of the commission that investigated the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks: creation of a new intelligence czar to oversee the activities of the CIA and more than a dozen other intelligence agencies. Speaking last week of the pleas for change by the 9/11 commission, Goss had said "we cannot afford to make changes blindly or in an unnecessary haste. We can ill-afford to rush to judgment any more than we can tolerate needless delay." Goss was among the leading candidates mentioned when Tenet announced his resignation in late spring. But there had been more recent speculation that his prospects had dimmed, due at least in part to the unavoidable controversies that follow a leading player in Congress. Tenet's last day was July 11, and the much-criticized agency since then has been under the leadership of acting Director John McLaughlin. The administration was believed to have debated internally whether to choose a permanent successor to Tenet before the fall elections, thus putting itself in the position of having to defend its choice in confirmation hearings held in a politically charged atmosphere.
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| Posted by:Steve |
| #21 I just read # 19. I wonder just how close we are to having an intelligence agency called the NID. Real life imitates Stargate yet again? |
| Posted by: Phil Fraering 2004-08-10 21:44 |
| #20 Interesting that he has military intel experience. The question of how, and how much, to integrate other intel with military intel is a hard one. Battlefield commanders don't want CIA / NSA types deciding what they need to see or taking a long time to pass it along. OTOH duplication of systems is expensive. It'll take someone with feet in both worlds to get some agreement on the balance between them. |
| Posted by: rkb 2004-08-10 21:14 |
| #19 Goss may be a good and competent man, but is he the hard-ass reformer that CIA needs? I have my doubts. But perhaps Bush is planning to move the heavy lifting to NID's position. |
| Posted by: someone 2004-08-10 20:43 |
| #18 Kerry will vote for Goss in committee before he votes against him on the floor. |
| Posted by: Mr. Davis 2004-08-10 16:53 |
| #17 Chances are we'll never know because Kerry probably won't show up to vote on it either way. He's a busy man you know. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2004-08-10 16:37 |
| #16 Sea - Are you suggesting he'll handle it just as he does every other issue? |
| Posted by: .com 2004-08-10 16:27 |
| #15 "woolseys too openly neo con, Dot com boom. and one of the harder line neo cons at that - closer to Perle than to Wolfie" Lh, you talk about this like it's a bad thing...LOL And how can a "harder line neo-con" not be close to Wolfowitz?! |
| Posted by: GreatestJeneration 2004-08-10 16:26 |
| #14 Ah, but will Kerry be for Goss, or against Goss, or both? |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2004-08-10 16:22 |
| #13 LH - LOL! Nice twisty-curvy post! Still laughing... and I'm sure you're right, no make that left, lol! |
| Posted by: .com 2004-08-10 15:51 |
| #12 woolseys too openly neo con, Dot com boom. and one of the harder line neo cons at that - closer to Perle than to Wolfie (closer to dot com than to LH?:)) |
| Posted by: Liberalhawk 2004-08-10 15:46 |
| #11 If Turner is against it, then he must be the right choice. |
| Posted by: B 2004-08-10 15:44 |
| #10 I saw Turner on Fox Sunday (Kerin was looking good) and he was just a Dem talking point mouthpiece. His comment is so ridiculous that it makes him look stupid. ZF is right. This guy is an(other) empty suit. |
| Posted by: remote man 2004-08-10 15:32 |
| #9 Article: Retired Adm. Stansfield Turner, who was CIA chief during the Carter administration and supports Sen. John Kerry's presidential bid, said Goss' selection marked "a bad day for the CIA." Goss was chosen simply "to help George Bush win votes in Florida. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the Iranian Revolution and the taking of American hostages at the US embassy in Tehran occurred on Turner's watch. 'Nuff said. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2004-08-10 15:04 |
| #8 plus Woolsey's still got some classified powerpoint stuff on his laptop :-) |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-08-10 14:47 |
| #7 tu - dead right, bro. Fox, for reasons that utterly elude me, often invite Turner on for commentary. His broken-record partisan dogma is truly mind-boggling - and here we have yet another charge against the Pubs that is standard play for the Donks - accuse them of what we do. It's a great ploy and instantly confuses the issue. He's so far out of touch, so far out of the loop, that every word is wasted air-time. He's a Carter fuckwit and whore -- looking for a job, methinks. Why they don't get someone who's still informed and has a real grasp of reality - like Woolsey - is beyond me. I'd hire Woolsey in a heartbeat for any advisory or staff intel position - he knows his shit, is extremely articulate and well-spoken, and doesn't pull his punches. A truth-teller and awesome bullshit-detector. |
| Posted by: .com 2004-08-10 14:10 |
| #6 Retired Adm. Stansfield Turner, who was CIA chief during the Carter administration and supports Sen. John Kerry's presidential bid, said Goss' selection marked "a bad day for the CIA." Goss was chosen simply "to help George Bush win votes in Florida. This is the worst appointment that's ever been made to the office of director of central intelligence because that's an office that needs to be kept above partisan politics," Turner said. Stan, you should amend that to "the worst appointment that's ever been made to the office of director of central intelligence".... since me. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2004-08-10 14:02 |
| #5 In the aftermath of the intelligence community getting ripped up one side and down the other by the various committees and commissions, would the Dems even dare to mess with the DCI confirmation hearings? It'll lead to a replay of 2002. (c.f. Homeland security follies, government service employees union featherbedding) |
| Posted by: eLarson 2004-08-10 13:57 |
| #4 Kathy, that's nice to hear. Agree that the Dem's risk looking soft on terrorism if they don't confirm, especially after all their wailing about the need for something like this. And it also gives GOP a chance to beat the Dim's over the head a few more times re: their delays in confirming justices. |
| Posted by: B 2004-08-10 10:07 |
| #3 Kathy - Whew! Thanks for the first-hand assessment! I've read a LOT about him, but the sources are, of course, mainly among those I have learned to distrust or filter to death. Your description hits the mean - the sweet spot - when it's all boiled down, so it rings true. And that is a major relief! I am particualrly happy he has actually been IN the CIA - and Operations to boot... nothing beats on the scene knowledge and experience. The common sense part is the other thing that rings my bell! I'm cool with him now, not that he needed it, heh. I don't know if this will be a timing mistake (i.e. will the circus will overshadow the point?), but at least I feel better about the person put forward. Thanks, Kathy! Much appreciated! |
| Posted by: .com 2004-08-10 10:05 |
| #2 I'm in Florida, district 14 (the same district Goss represents). So I know a good deal about him. I don't always agree with his politics but he's extremely intelligent, has a lot of common sense (which doesn't always go with intelligence) and has a lot of intelligence experience (including in the CIA). Despite the fact that I don't always agree with him politically, I have voted for him every single time he's run here. I don't vote party line, and am registered independent. If you think this is an endorsement of Goss, you are quite right. He's absolutely the best man for the job. |
| Posted by: Kathy K 2004-08-10 09:39 |
| #1 Dems don't like him - that means he'll probably be effective and a good choice. They risk looking bad in beating up on him at confirmation hearings, he's no chump and will bite back |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-08-10 09:31 |
