SPOOKS BATTLE NEW BOSS

Former CIA agent — and Military​.com colum­nist — Richard Coffman was high on Porter Goss, when the con­gress­man was first tapped to take over the spy agency. Not any more.
“What promised to be a rebirth of a robust, aggres­sive CIA under Porter Goss lead­er­ship has quickly turned sour,” he writes. “Morale in the Agencys Operations Directorate, which con­ducts the nations espi­onage and is on the front lines of the bat­tle against ter­ror­ism is said to be at its low­est ebb since the direc­tor­ship of Stansfield Turner in the late 70s.”

Clandestine vet­er­ans believe changes are required and have been clam­or­ing for a return to the basics of espi­onage unen­cum­bered by exces­sive bureau­cracy, intru­sive lawyer­ing and politi­cized over­sight. Many have been look­ing for­ward to Porter Goss as the right direc­tor at the right time to strengthen human source col­lec­tion across-​​the-​​board, even employ­ing tough love to make it hap­pen.
But, tur­moil at Langley has stopped promised reforms in their tracks. In an atmos­phere of mutual dis­trust and ani­mos­ity, Goss has yet to artic­u­late the direc­tion and sub­stance of the moves he has in mind. In any event, his plans have been over­shad­owed by the lack of cred­i­bil­ity and over­bear­ing man­ner of his assistants.

November 16th, 2004 | Cloak and Dagger | Comments Off Both comments and pings are currently closed.