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| Fifth Column |
| Hoekstra: Anti-Bush faction now controls CIA |
| 2006-07-21 |
| The CIA has been taken over by a dissident faction that seeks to undermine President Bush. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Peter Hoekstra has identified the anti-Bush faction in a letter to the president. Mr. Hoekstra said the faction appears to be led by Mr. Bush's recent appointments to the agency. "In fact, I have been long concerned that a strong and well-positioned group within the agency intentionally undermined the administration and its policies," Mr. Hoekstra wrote in a May 18 letter to Mr. Bush. The letter echoed assertions throughout the intelligence community that senior CIA officials sought to undermine the U.S.-led war against Iraq. Sources in the community said the dissident faction joined with colleagues in the State Department to target exiled Iraqi democrats, particularly Ahmad Chalabi. "There is clearly a faction in the CIA that appears sworn to overturn the president's policies," said a congressional source responsible for monitoring the CIA. "What is amazing is that the president has undermined his loyalists and promoted his enemies." In his letter, Mr. Hoekstra agreed with this assessment. The House committee chairman said the anti-Bush faction has taken over the CIA with Mr. Bush's appointment of Stephen Kappes to be the agency’s deputy director. Mr. Kappes quit the agency in 2004 when he disagreed with then-Director Porter Goss' changes at the CIA. In particular, Mr. Kappes was said to have been angered by Mr. Goss’ efforts to clamp down on leaks to the media that were unfavorable to the Bush administration. "I understand that Mr. Kappes is a capable, well-qualified, and well-liked former Directorate of Operations (DO) case officer," Mr. Hoekstra wrote. "I am heartened by the professional qualities he would bring to the job, but concerned by what could be the political problems that he could bring back to the agency." Mr. Hoekstra said the dissident faction has for years been successful in politicizing the agency. He said Mr. Goss had tried and failed to end this process and was replaced by a leadership that supports an anti-Bush agenda. The dissident faction, the letter said, was responsible for a number of damaging leaks from the CIA. Mr. Hoekstra said this could have included the criticism by former U.S. Ambassador Joseph Wilson, whose wife is CIA operative Valerie Plame. In 2002, months before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, Mr. Wilson was sent by the CIA—on the recommendation of Mrs. Plame—to Niger to examine reports that Iraq sought to procure uranium ore from the African country. Later, Mr. Wilson accused the administration of exaggerating the Iraqi threat. In 2003, Mrs. Plame's identity was leaked by the administration to columnist Robert Novak. Mr. Novak said he was informed of Mrs. Plame's identity by an administration source, who he has not named, and that her identity as a CIA operative was confirmed by Mr. Bush’s Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove. Mr. Kappes is said to be part of a dissident faction that sent Mr. Wilson to Niger to get evidence on the Iraqi connection. This was done without the authority of then-CIA Director George Tenet. Several conservative Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill charge that the dissident faction within the CIA has been deliberately pursuing an anti-Bush, status-quo agenda, refusing to make the necessary intelligence changes at the agency to deal with the new post-Cold War threats posed by al Qaeda, Iran, Iraq and North Korea. The faction was said to be key in the harassment and near assassination of Mr. Chalabi in 2004 near Baghdad, amid the accusation that he was an Iranian agent. Mr. Chalabi, a pivotal Iraqi exile who supported the administration’s campaign to topple Saddam Hussein, challenged the CIA’s anti-war and status-quo agenda. Mr. Chalabi’s opposition sparked major questions in Congress on the agency's knowledge of Iraq, its view of the Saddam regime and the CIA’s refusal to include pro-American Iraqis within the interim government in Baghdad. "In fact, I have long been convinced that a strong and well-positioned group within the Agency intentionally undermined the Administration and its policies," Mr. Hoekstra wrote. "This argument is supported by the Ambassador Wilson/Valerie Plame events, as well as by the string of unauthorized disclosures from an organization that prides itself with being able to keep secrets." Mr. Hoekstra identified a close associate of Mr. Kappes, his deputy Michael Sulick, as another anti-Bush suspect. The chairman said Mr. Kappes and Mr. Sulick were bypassing Congress in an effort to promote their personal agendas. "The fact, Mr. Kappes and his deputy, Mr. Sulick, were developing a communications offensive to bypass the Intelligence Committees and the CIA's own Office of Congressional Affairs," Mr. Hoekstra said. "Every day we suffer from the consequences of individuals promoting their personal agendas. This is clearly a place at which we do not want or need to be." There is a killer argument to be made between "operationally effective" and "politically loyal". It is a hard choice when your enemies are better than your friends, and you really need "better" right now. |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #7 You said, it, Iblis. I kinda doubt that the trust is at the same level after getting burned by obvious adversaries. In other cases, such as Norm Mineta, he is the very embodiment of perfect loyalty - for better or worse. Sometimes it makes me want to scream... then other times, such as believing in and sticking with Bolton, I love the guy. |
| Posted by: Shinegum Thraiger5571 2006-07-21 23:19 |
| #6 It was clear who'd won when Goss left. Bush's problem is that he genuinely believes there is good in everyone, even Democrats. This is demonstrably false, but he believes it anyway. So he trusts them. And they kick his teeth in. And he just keeps trusting them. |
| Posted by: Iblis 2006-07-21 23:15 |
| #5 The DemoLeft will vote for it a'fore voting against it afore voting .... afore voting .... afore voting ........................@ eternal perpetual wafflins. Worse to worse, Lefties are their own biggest [self] justification for Communism, Totalitarianism, and Policratism/Politicism, etal. - can't = won't trust themselves, let alone anyone + everyone else, to get a glass of water or make simple toast bread, etc!? Need a lawyer to see a lawyer, and sworn affidavits to use the restroom, etc. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2006-07-21 22:45 |
| #4 What about the SSB and Cambone? CIA is a clearing House now, a phone in a dusty room in a cardboard box. The SSB will be providing the useful intell. Actionable intell and inside lines are not dependable at CIA. That is just to keep some boys busy. Someone else is doing the real work. CIA is just what's in the window, not the stock. The Spooks really are spooks. CIA is a dummy in the window. |
| Posted by: Angetle Shish1400 2006-07-21 22:31 |
| #3 OS -- glad you popped in. I do believe this is going on. My question. Why are these people doing this? Is there something about power that I just don't understand? Do they so think the Repub are so wrong, that it is their duty to do this? Or, is it a money issue, or just simply, a power question? If you can't answer, I do understand. Thanks for staying close to us.. I always feel much better, seeing your name! |
| Posted by: Sherry 2006-07-21 21:53 |
| #2 OS, Right on queue. I was waiting on your opinion. |
| Posted by: Poison Reverse 2006-07-21 21:46 |
| #1 This is a result of the rot I told you all about long ago. CYA behavior, empire building and plitical toadying are how these people got ahead under Bush I and Clinton. They are why wer hit aspririn factories, ineffective cruise missles on empty camps, the Cole, 9/11. The list goes on and on while the ass coverers and political operatives (Democrats) chew up the agency's resoruces in their attempts to trash Bush so they can preserve their jobs and cold-war central-managed top-down risk averse bumbling bullcrap. Disband the CIA, and parcel its functions to NSA, NRO and DIA, and establish a new HUMINT agency. Break up the cabals in the CIA before they destroy our nation in their selfishness. |
| Posted by: Oldspook 2006-07-21 21:44 |