POLITICS: Senator John McCain Slams Dysfunctional CIA

Calling the Central Intelligence Agency �dysfunctional� and a �rogue� organization, Arizona Senator John McCain indicated the need for reform. He further indicated in an interview that the recent turmoil at CIA was necessary. McCain blames the CIA for giving President Bush bad intelligence on Iraqi WMD as well as leaking information to the media.



The CIA and other intelligence agencies have been dropping he ball as of late. From the 911 attacks to Iraqi WMD (In their defense, other prominent intelligence services thought Saddam had them too) to India�s test of a nuclear weapon. Reform is needed from the top on down in order to bring about the necessary changes.



Related AboveTopSecret.com Discussion Threads:
ATS: CIA has anti Bush purge

[edit on 15-11-2004 by robin1976]

Top spies threaten to leave the fold over CIA reform
From Roland Watson in Washington






THE CIA�s top spies are on the brink of revolt seven weeks after the arrival of President Bush�s new Director.

Porter Goss and his newly imported aides have had a series of bruising showdowns with established CIA figures that have left the agency in turmoil.

John McLaughlin, the agency�s deputy director, a 32-year CIA veteran, announced at the weekend that he was quitting. Stephen Kappes, the deputy director of operations, is expected to announce his resignation today.

Morale is said to be worse than at any time in the past 25 years and former CIA officials are giving warning that the bad blood at the agency�s Langley headquarters in Virginia could cause the organisation to take its eye off the ball at a critical time. The CIA is at the forefront of American efforts to end the Iraqi insurgency, tracking al-Qaeda threats around the world and helping to prevent the return of the Taleban in Afghanistan.

Even before arriving at the CIA, Mr Goss had pronounced it to be dysfunctional. He promised to shake up an organisation widely blamed for being wrong about Iraq�s weapons of mass destruction and failing to forsee the September 11 attacks.

His predecessor, George Tenet, who famously told Mr Bush that the presence of WMD in Iraq was a �slam-dunk case�, left in the summer.

Mr Goss has met fierce resistance, however. A former chairman of the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee and a former CIA case officer, he brought four senior aides from Capitol Hill with him. Patrick Murray, his chief of staff, in particular ruffled feathers with an abrasive approach to management.

The CIA is one of the most effective leakers of information, even by Washington standards, and the weekend newspapers have been amply supplied with the grievances of officials with the new regime.

Mr Goss�s initial attempt to bring Michael Kostiw, an Intelligence Committee aide, with him from Capitol Hill fell apart when it was leaked that Mr Kostiw had been forced to leave the CIA 20 years ago after being arrested for stealing a packet of bacon.

Tensions appear to be worse at the CIA�s directorate of operations, the career spies who form the most powerful and secretive body within the agency. Reforming the directorate without provoking a rebellion would test anyone, but Mr Goss appears to have got off on the wrong track by isolating himself, failing to forge alliances with career officers or to give a clear indication of what he has in mind. The tension is exacerbated by the considerable uncertainty about CIA reform, which is being debated by Congress. The CIA also resents the way that it was blamed for the Iraq WMD debacle. Intelligence officials say that neo-conservatives were at fault for hardening intelligence.
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As you can see,there apear to be things happening in the CIA,and it may have something to do with the gathering of intelligence being given to the pentagon.



[edit on 15-11-2004 by robin1976]

The gathering of intelligence is apparently going to be given to the pentagon and the CIA will not have as much power as they do now.The main reason being is that the CIA censors its intelligence and sometimes from the men in the white house and congress.One could think that is to stop leaks but who knows.I just thought i would add to this thread of what i have been reading.
Sorry,i have no link but will post one next time i see a story about this.

So could this mean the declassification of a lot of documents?
its for the obvious reasons that the president himself would want to know whats going on in the world, that is if he's to be blamed for it IMO.
Could their be any link between the resignations and new information coming to light?
Personally I think it would be a good thing if something happens to the CiA, no one likes a know-it-all, especially one who with-holds information.

Its very simple the new head of the CIA is nothing more or nothing less that Cheney's pretty boy and snitch.

So no wonder is not respect for his appoitment withing the CIA itself.

In my experience, ANY TOP-DOWN RESPONSE TO A PROBLEM is bound, by definition, to both obfuscate and complicate the problem.

Only "grassroots" reform makes any difference, in which individuals doing work take complete accountability for truth and priority SERIOUSLY, from the clerk at the front desk, through the mid-level managers, all the way to the executives at the top.

Top-down is just more NWO gobbledegook, bureaucratic blathering-to-no-real-effect.

Actually, it's not the fault of the agency's employees.

In August 2001, FBI Deputy Director John O'Neill resigned from his post over George W. Bush's policy on terrorism and Osama bin Laden. Specifically, O'Neill's department was told to "back off" their bin Laden and Al Queda investigations while the Bush administration negotiated with the Taliban. O'Neill became the security chief of the World Trade Center - where he died during the events of 9/11.

www.rememberjohn.com...

Also, look how the FBI's field agents were continuously blocked from uncovering the 9/11 plot.

And who leaks the names of CIA assetts? Um, the White House with Valerie Plame in retaliation for her husband blowing the false Iraq-Niger Uranium story open.

[edit on 15-11-2004 by taibunsuu]

Who pardoned Nixon? Top-down.

Who refused to validate the 911 investigation? Top-down.

Who refused to look into the "put options" that took place right up til 911?
Top-down.

Who refused to investigate Waco thoroughly? Top-down.

Who refused to hear the testimony of a military demolitions expert re the OKC bombing? Yep. Top-down.

Who whitewashed the Warren Commission and its report? Top-down.

Who strong-armed Congress into passing the "Patriot Act" before they even read it? Yep. Top-down.

Who decided to consolidate all law enforcement agencies across the nation and put them to work following military instead of civilian problem-solving guidelines? Yep. Top-down.

Who set up the Shadow Government outside of Congressional Budgetary limits and controls? Top-down.

Who set IRS against individuals--personally--who had moral issues with the way the Feds were doing business? Again, top-down.

How does a tyrannical regime work? Top-down. Never mind, consent of the governed. That's how it works.

I used to really respect him. But after that Zell Miller -Lite performance at the RNC & the utter refusal to call the malfesance hitting us in the face from the Bushies what it is, I can no longer take anything he says seriously.
Take the political hatchet job that Porter Goss is doing to the CIA as the fact, and John McCain doing a 'Powell-at-the-UN-with-PowerPoint-and-a-Vile' as the misdirection.