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CIA Being Purged of Staffers "Disloyal" To the Presidant
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| occrider |
Has anyone been following the shennanigans going on in the CIA since Porter Goss took over?
| quote: | Purge ordered at CIA
Sources say White House has told new chief 'get rid' of staffers who were disloyal to president
BY KNUT ROYCE
WASHINGTON BUREAU
November 14, 2004
Washington - The White House has ordered the new CIA director, Porter Goss, to purge the agency of officers believed to have been disloyal to President George W. Bush or of leaking damaging information to the media about the conduct of the Iraq war and the hunt for Osama bin Laden, according to knowledgeable sources.
"The agency is being purged on instructions from the White House," said a former senior CIA official who maintains close ties to both the agency and to the White House. "Goss was given instructions ... to get rid of those soft leakers and liberal Democrats. The CIA is looked on by the White House as a hotbed of liberals and people who have been obstructing the president's agenda."
One of the first casualties appears to be Stephen R. Kappes, deputy director of clandestine services, the CIA's most powerful division. The Washington Post reported yesterday that Kappes had tendered his resignation after a confrontation with Goss' chief of staff, Patrick Murray, but at the behest of the White House had agreed to delay his decision till tomorrow.
But the former senior CIA official said that the White House "doesn't want Steve Kappes to reconsider his resignation. That might be the spin they put on it, but they want him out." He said the job had already been offered to the former chief of the European Division who retired after a spat with then-CIA Director George Tenet.
Another recently retired top CIA official said he was unsure Kappes had "officially resigned, but I do know he was unhappy."
Without confirming or denying that the job offer had been made, a CIA spokesman asked Newsday to withhold naming the former officer because of his undercover role over the years. He said he had no comment about Goss' personnel plans, but he added that changes at the top are not unusual when new directors come in.
On Friday John E. McLaughlin, a 32-year veteran of the intelligence division who served as acting CIA director before Goss took over, announced that he was retiring. The spokesman said that the retirement had been planned and was unrelated to the Kappes resignation or to other morale problems inside the CIA.
It could not be learned yesterday if the White House had identified Kappes, a respected operations officer, as one of the officials "disloyal" to Bush.
"The president understands and appreciates the sacrifices made by the members of the intelligence community in the war against terrorism," said a White House official of the report that he was purging the CIA of "disloyal" officials. " . . . The suggestion [that he ordered a purge] is inaccurate."
But another former CIA official who retains good contacts within the agency said that Goss and his top aides, who served on his staff when Goss was chairman of the House intelligence committee, believe the agency had relied too much over the years on liaison work with foreign intelligence agencies and had not done enough to develop its own intelligence collection system.
"Goss is not a believer in liaison work," said this retired official. But, he said, the CIA's "best intelligence really comes from liaison work. The CIA is simply not going to develop the assets [agents and case officers] that would meet the intelligence requirements."
Tensions between the White House and the CIA have been the talk of the town for at least a year, especially as leaks about the mishandling of the Iraq war have dominated front pages.
Some of the most damaging leaks came from Michael Scheuer, former head of the CIA's Bin Laden unit, who wrote a book anonymously called "Imperial Hubris" that criticized what he said was the administration's lack of resolve in tracking down the al-Qaida chieftain and the reallocation of intelligence and military manpower from the war on terrorism to the war in Iraq. Scheuer announced Thursday that he was resigning from the agency.
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationw...lnews-headlines
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| Itarillė |
| oh yes, since george tenet resigned as director of the cia... but the n again, i've also been wondering about what would become of the cia the day it was taken in as part of homeland security... |
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| girllovingtvibe |
| 7 different acting directors (CIA) in 5 years (before Tenet took over in '96). Not a very good indication of a solid foundation. Clinton was not a big supporter of the agency - Bush IS - surprise, surprise.....ick really! lets face it - this agency is not exactly very stable at the best of times. Of course it will weed out the non supporters - since BUSH is the now replenishing their funding. |
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| imokruok |
| The CIA is chock full of "lifers," most of whom were already senior staffers in the final years of the Cold War. The 9/11 Commission called our inability to plan for 9/11 a "failure of imagination." The stagnant thought processes of the lifers are responsible for the failure. It's time for new blood. Time to clean house. |
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| wolverine16 |
| quote: | Originally posted by imokruok
The CIA is chock full of "lifers," most of whom were already senior staffers in the final years of the Cold War. The 9/11 Commission called our inability to plan for 9/11 a "failure of imagination." The stagnant thought processes of the lifers are responsible for the failure. It's time for new blood. Time to clean house. |
There wasn't a failure of imagination, there was a lack of communication and action. There was a Presidential Daily Briefing warning about possible attacks, the Phoenix memo and intelligence as early as 1995 warning about the possibility of using planes as missiles. |
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| occrider |
| quote: | Originally posted by imokruok
The CIA is chock full of "lifers," most of whom were already senior staffers in the final years of the Cold War. The 9/11 Commission called our inability to plan for 9/11 a "failure of imagination." The stagnant thought processes of the lifers are responsible for the failure. It's time for new blood. Time to clean house. |
That's fine, however, it seems clear that the "shakeup" is placing emphasis on getting rid those who do not support the administration's agenda as opposed to getting rid of "lifers" guilty of a "failure of imagination." It sends the message throughout the organization that intelligence analyses better agree with the direction that the administration is heading in. It's asinine since you're essentially shooting yourself in the foot. |
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| wolverine16 |
| quote: | Originally posted by occrider
That's fine, however, it seems clear that the "shakeup" is placing emphasis on getting rid those who do not support the administration's agenda as opposed to getting rid of "lifers" guilty of a "failure of imagination." It sends the message throughout the organization that intelligence analyses better agree with the direction that the administration is heading in. It's asinine since you're essentially shooting yourself in the foot. |
Good points and it is very troubling that this is going on, especially because "group think" is more likely when everyone agrees and there are no other opinions. It would make the mistakes in Iraq intelligence more likely to be repeated. |
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| Izzy |
| quote: | Originally posted by occrider
That's fine, however, it seems clear that the "shakeup" is placing emphasis on getting rid those who do not support the administration's agenda as opposed to getting rid of "lifers" guilty of a "failure of imagination." It sends the message throughout the organization that intelligence analyses better agree with the direction that the administration is heading in. It's asinine since you're essentially shooting yourself in the foot. |
well of course when some new director comes in he'll fire those that arent on his ideology and will hire those more along his.
a great analogy is football.
Say a new coach with a "west coast offense" style comes into a team to replace one with the "run and grid iron offense". It would be silly of him not to get rid of some of his full backs for quicker, more agile wide recievers.
I think this change up is a healthy thing for the CIA |
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| Yoepus |
Good riddance.
Don't let the door hit you on your way out now;)
Sad part is that Bush had to wait for political reasons till he became a lame duck to do these essential changes. Changes such as these firings which are necessary for our national security were jeporadized due to political maneouvering in washington.
I always think Presidents do their best jobs in the 2nd term. Less politics involved. |
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| occrider |
| quote: | Originally posted by Izzy
well of course when some new director comes in he'll fire those that arent on his ideology and will hire those more along his.
a great analogy is football.
Say a new coach with a "west coast offense" style comes into a team to replace one with the "run and grid iron offense". It would be silly of him not to get rid of some of his full backs for quicker, more agile wide recievers.
I think this change up is a healthy thing for the CIA |
This is hardly analagous to a "football" team in any sense of the imagination. The CIA's duties are NOT to support the President's agenda by providing analyses that solely corroborate his ideological position which allows his agenda to "win". Their job is to provide comprehensive, objective analyses that pertains to the facts rather than the ideological desired state. By purging your intelligence agency of dissenting voices and sending warnings to all others who may share similar objections in their analyses of the intelligence, you move closer to an intelligence agency of yes-men that is most fittingly head by the individual in my avatar, than an intelligence agency who provides the facts regardless of its impact on the President's own personal agenda or anyone's agenda. This is common sense here ... |
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| smokeape |
Disloyal comments about the President are a UCMJ offense in the military. Don't know if laws apply equally to government civilians, but surely suspect they do. Looks like someone decided to enforce the existing statutes.
;)
[[[smoke]]] |
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| wolverine16 |
| quote: | Originally posted by smokeape
Disloyal comments about the President are a UCMJ offense in the military. Don't know if laws apply equally to government civilians, but surely suspect they do. Looks like someone decided to enforce the existing statutes.
;)
[[[smoke]]] |
I think you're right in the sense that CIA operatives should not be making statements that demean the administration, particularly in public (e.g. the author of "Imperial Hubris" who recently left), but they have the right to privately disagree with a policy or ideology as long as they perform their duties and provide straight facts. Occirider has it right on in his explation of why this is a good thing. |
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