Goss: I'm not qualified to work with the CIA

[Tarheelhombre]

http://politicalwire.com/

"I couldn't get a job with CIA today. I am not qualified."

-- CIA Director-designate Porter Goss, quoted by Matt Gunn, apparently from Fahrenheit 9/11 outtakes.


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Congressman Porter Goss, President Bush's nominee for CIA director, could be his own worst enemy when it comes to making the case that he deserves to lead the U.S. intelligence agency.

"I couldn't get a job with CIA today. I am not qualified," the Florida Republican told documentary-maker Michael Moore's production company during the filming of the anti-Bush movie "Fahrenheit 9/11."

A day after Bush picked Goss for the top U.S. spy job, Moore on Wednesday released an excerpt from a March 3 interview in which the 65-year-old former House of Representatives intelligence chief recounts his lack of qualifications for employment as a modern CIA staffer.

"I don't have the language skills. I, you know, my language skills were romance languages and stuff. We're looking for Arabists today. I don't have the cultural background probably," Goss is quoted in an interview transcript.

"And I certainly don't have the technical skills, uh, as my children remind me every day: 'Dad you got to get better on your computer.' Uh, so, the things that you need to have, I don't have."

Goss, who served with the CIA clandestine services in Latin America and Europe in the 1960s, was not immediately available for comment.

He appears in Moore's film, the most financially successful documentary in history, during a segment devoted to the USA Patriot Act, an anti-terrorism measure.

Moore told Reuters that Goss, who until Tuesday was chairman of the House of Representatives Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, granted an interview to two of his producers without first checking to see who they worked for.

"You'd think the person who was the head of the intelligence committee would ask a few more questions," said Moore.

"The reality is that Porter Goss was in charge of the oversight of the CIA during a time when the CIA didn't do its job, which in part resulted in the loss of lives of 3,000 people," he said via telephone from New York.

A White House spokesman declined to comment specifically on the Goss interview but described the lawmaker as "the most qualified man for the job."

Goss is expected to appear at confirmation hearings before the Senate intelligence committee next month.

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=5944517

[peekaloo]

1. HaHa.......Boo$h wants his spooks as unqualified as possible.

[sangha]

2. Now we know why he became a repuke

It was the only thing he qualified for

[the Kelly Gang]

3. to head the CIA the only qualification is to lie these days

[teryang]

4. He never stopped working with the CIA

The fact is that over the years many of our elected officials have been serving the CIA.

Goss is qualified as one of the biggest liars. Having him in an oversight capacity was laughable. How does he escape responsibility for alleged CIA ineffectiveness and intelligence failures? Oops! Let's send that one down the memory hole.