Gannett News Service December 17, 2004
Goss likely to stay at CIA, experts say
By Larry Wheeler
WASHINGTON -- Although his name appears on the list of those being considered by President Bush to fill the new role of director of national intelligence, some experts believe that Central Intelligence Agency Director Porter Goss won't be named to the position.
Goss, who left Congress this year to run the CIA, has the resume to step into the position created by the National Security Intelligence Reform Act that Bush signed into law Friday.
But politics, policy and his own desire to repair the agency that was a central theme in his congressional and early professional career likely will keep Goss ensconced in the agency's headquarters just outside Washington, according to experts.
"Goss got off to a bit of a rocky start at CIA," said P.J. Crowley, a senior fellow and national security expert at the Center for American Progress. "There are questions about his ability to manage that agency, and those questions will largely take him out of the running for being national intelligence director."
Shortly after taking over the CIA this fall, Goss' management was quickly called into question after veteran clandestine service officers began resigning as Goss named loyal Capitol Hill staffers to key positions.
Goss' critics quickly pounced on the uproar, but supporters dismissed it as typical of a regime change at such a hidebound and secretive agency.
"I think Goss has done a great job trying to reform the organization," said James Carafano, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, who specializes in national security issues. "You've got to expect people who are ingrained in the old ways of doing business will be upset."
Carafano said he expects Goss to stay put.
"If we changed leadership of the CIA now, the new guy would have to start over in terms of pushing for reform," Carafano said. "I think you are going to have a stronger agency if the director just focuses on his agency. It's the right thing to do."
Creating a director of national intelligence position is expected to improve working relationships among the nation's 15 different spy agencies. The director also will brief the president on national security intelligence matters, replacing the CIA director in that role.
Goss attended Friday's signing ceremony at the White House but did not make a statement.
"Under this new law, our vast intelligence enterprise will become more unified, coordinated and effective," Bush said. "It will enable us to better do our duty, which is to protect the American people."
The legislation also creates a National Counterterrorism Center that will eventually serve as a clearinghouse for terrorist-related intelligence. And it implements new border security and law enforcement provisions.
After graduating from Yale, Goss, 66, worked in CIA clandestine services before leaving the service after a near-fatal illness.
Elected to Congress in 1988, Goss resumed contact with his old career as a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. He was eventually named chairman of the committee, where he remained until Bush picked him to replace departing CIA Director George Tenet.
In his final weeks before taking over the CIA, Goss clearly said he would make it a priority to restore the agency's human intelligence capabilities, which are viewed as an essential ingredient if the United States hopes to penetrate terrorist organizations and thwart future attacks.
"My impression is that Goss is mainly focused on fixing the covert operations people," said John Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org, and one of the world's leading experts on defense, space and intelligence policy.
Possible nominees for the national intelligence director's post include: former New Jersey Gov. Tom Kean; former Deputy CIA Director William Studeman; Lt. Gen. Michael Hayden, head of the National Security Agency; Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage; and White House homeland security adviser Fran Townsend.
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