When they should be apologizing for Ashcroft, they give us Goss!
http://www.balkanalysis.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=397US: If Goss is the Best We’ve Got, We’re All in Trouble
On Wednesday, a Bush administration spokesman declared Porter Goss, the president’s nominee for CIA chief, “…the most qualified man for the job.” This statement came in response to the shocking revelation, supplied by Goss himself, that he was in fact not qualified for the job.
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Even more troubling, while Goss has been a critic of the agency in the past he has also been more often than not a stalwart defender (not to mention a supporter of the infamous Patriot Act II). At a time when all American intelligence services are in dire need of a critical and public overhaul, the last thing the country needs is someone in charge who is both incompetent and prone to hushing up failures.
Despite demurring in March over the prospect of a CIA job, it seems that Goss changed his mind as the months wore on. That he did “not want” the CIA post, however, seems to have little to do with his own concerns over his qualifications; in actual fact, he seems to have his sights set on a much bigger goal – the proposed new office of “intelligence czar:”
“…In June, Goss proposed making the CIA director the intelligence czar, with control over the CIA, responsibility for advising the president and budget authority over all 15 U.S. intelligence agencies. Critics dubbed his legislation the ‘CIA takeover bill.’ The 9/11 Commission said the three jobs are too much for one official.
..more..
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Goss quotes:
October 9, 2002:
"Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden and their radical ilk are at the epicenter of terrorist activity in the Middle East. Nobody doubts that. It is not debatable. President Bush, Prime Minister Blair and others have made convincing cases about the threats the despotic Iraqi regime poses to world peace and stability today—today as well as tomorrow."
And he added:
"Iraq has expanded its weapons of mass destruction capabilities against its pledge not to. It still has deadly chemical weapons hidden throughout the country, and it has tried to develop nuclear devices as well. It is certain that Iraq has ties to many Islamic terror groups in the region, including Al Qaeda. Evidence supports Iraq's involvement in the first and probably the second World Trade Center bombing."
So, let's see: Goss, a former CIA agent, ignored studying something that did happen—his breakfast with the bagman of a 9-11 hijacker—while strongly pushing for a war based on a "threat" to our security that didn't exist.
Sure, let's make him CIA director. What the hell. He's been an effective stonewaller and excuse-maker ever since 9-11.
"No smoking gun," he said in 2002, when the Goss-Graham report was released.
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CIA NOMINEE IN PIC OF AGENCY'S 60'S ASSASSINATION SQUAD
at
http://www.madcowprod.com THE MAN PICKED by President George W Bush to head America's Central Intelligence Agency is even more of an intelligence insider than has so far been revealed...
The MadCow Morning News has learned that House Intelligence Committee Chairman Republican Porter J Goss of Sanibel Island Florida is a previously undisclosed member of the secret society "Book & Snake" at Yale.
President George W Bush's nominee to head the nation's flagship intelligence agency also appears to be visible in a photograph taken in 1963 in a Mexico City nightclub of members of the CIA's secret assassination squad known as "Operation Forty."
The twin discoveries come as news reports indicate that Democrats have decided not to make a serious issue of Goss's appointment. The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee went so far as to warn fellow Democrats Sunday against trying to block the nomination.
Could the skittishness about scrutinizing Goss be due to a secret past that would have difficulty passing closer scrutiny?
FULL STORY AT:
The MadCowMorningNews
www.madcowprod.com
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http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=a5N3hLI098dQ&refer=usBush Expanding Power of CIA Director to Fight Terror (Update4)
Aug. 27 (Bloomberg) --
President George W. Bush signed orders giving more power to the head of the Central Intelligence Agency as an interim step until Congress can complete legislation creating a national intelligence director.
The increased authority will go initially to John McLaughlin, who is acting CIA director following the July 11 departure of George Tenet, White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters. Bush's nominee for the post, Representative Porter Goss, a Florida Republican, needs Senate confirmation.
The creation of a national intelligence director and a counterterrorism center were two of the key recommendations of the federal commission that investigated the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, which killed almost 3,000 people. The national intelligence director should serve in the White House and would need clear authority over budgets and personnel for the country's 15 spy agencies to be effective, the commission said.
Democratic leaders such as Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman said the position must control intelligence spending to be effective. ``If you're going to create a national intelligence director, it can't be phony,'' Lieberman said yesterday. ``The way to make it real in this town is with budget authority.''
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