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PORTER GOSS SUDDENLY RESIGNS FROM CIA – A SIMPLER EXPLANATION
by
Michael C. Ruppert
© Copyright 2006, From The Wilderness Publications, www.fromthewilderness.com. All Rights Reserved. This story may NOT be posted on any Internet web site without express written permission. Contact admin@copvcia.com. May be circulated, distributed or transmitted for non-profit purposes only.
May 9, 2006 0700 PST – (FTW) - My inbox is flooded with all kinds of speculation about why Porter Goss suddenly resigned as CIA Director last weekend. Most of it centers around poker games, connections to influence peddling, corruption, and an alleged feud between Goss and National intelligence Director John Negroponte.
Maybe. But I’m not sold. Goss’s resignation has, in just hours, been tied to everything except for the imminent prosecution of former Cheney Chief of Staff Lewis “Scooter” Libby, for the leaks in the Valerie Plame case.
But this is not the first time in recent memory that a CIA Director has stepped down suddenly. The last DCI to resign suddenly did so for reasons that may be exactly the same as the ones that compelled Goss to go.
As FTW told you in June of 2004 in our story Coup D’etat, it was highly likely that Goss’ predecessor George Tenet resigned suddenly in 2004 so that he would be able to quietly cooperate with the leak investigation surrounding Valerie Plame and secure prosecutions. Sitting Directors of Central Intelligence are exempt from testimony in criminal cases. Former DCIs are not.
As a mounting coup attempt against the Neocons is finally making itself apparent—with Donald Rumsfeld being the first Bush powerhouse under serious fire—a beleaguered administration is preparing for a series of political onslaughts intended to cripple it in time to slow it down from some really stupid moves such as attacking Iran (only one example).
I think it is fairly certain that when the Plame case heats up and goes to trial, George Tenet will be testifying about the Plame leak and the damage it did to Agency morale. During his tenure, Tenet was aggressive about pursuing the leak, and with good reason. He was pissed off and every covert operative in the Directorate of Operations was pissed off too.
Now, with Porter Goss out of office, Goss is free to counter balance Tenet’s testimony both at trial and in the press. Two DCIs take opposite sides in a case, “King’s X.” To let Tenet alone testify would be way too risky.
I don’t think we need to complicate Goss’ resignation any further. Goss’ job is basically done. He squashed leaks from inside the Agency. He instituted draconian new security measures. He protected Bush’s flanks as far as possible.
Now, as both a former DCI and as the previous Chair of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), Goss can defend Bush and Cheney in public as well.
CIA chief Goss quiet on abrupt departure
by Jeremy Pelofsky
Reuters
Washington
Saturday, May 6, 2006
http://tinyurl.com/h8uwj
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.
Porter Goss said on Saturday his reasons for abruptly resigning as CIA chief after less than two years would remain a mystery, while the White House denied that President Bush had lost confidence in him.
As Goss left his home Saturday on his way to give a commencement address in Ohio, he declined to explain his resignation, telling CNN that "it's one of those mysteries."
Goss had come under fire inside and outside the agency during a difficult tenure that followed intelligence lapses over Iraq and the September 11 attacks on the United States. Several career intelligence officers left after clashes.
The White House denied a report in the Washington Post that cited senior administration officials as saying that Bush had lost confidence in
Goss and had decided to replace him months ago.
"Reports that the president had lost confidence in Porter Goss are categorically untrue," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said as Bush flew to Oklahoma State University to deliver a commencement address. "Porter Goss played a key role in keeping the focus on winning the war on terror and helped transform the agency to meet the challenging times we're living in and the times ahead," she said.
Congressional aides have described growing talk in recent days about unhappiness with Goss, not only with his leadership, but also with reports of connections between CIA executive director Kyle "Dusty" Foggo and a bribery scandal that led to the jailing of former California congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham.
The Washington Post reported that Foggo, whom Goss elevated to the senior post, had attended poker games with a military contractor linked to the Cunningham case.
The CIA inspector general has been investigating Foggo and the newspaper said the probe includes whether he arranged any contracts for the contractor. The Post also reported that Foggo told colleagues he planned to resign next week and he has denied any impropriety.
A CIA spokesman declined to comment.
Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden, principal deputy director of national intelligence, is the leading candidate to replace Goss, according to reports from The New York Times, CNN and Time magazine.
Perino declined to comment on a replacement but said "it certainly will be soon."
The CIA had lost clout when it fell under a director of national intelligence created as part of reforms in response to the intelligence failures.
Tensions between Goss and national intelligence director John Negroponte arose as the new arm sought to assert itself over the CIA, an administration official said on Friday.
The tensions came to a boil when Negroponte decided that many CIA counterterrorism analysts should be moved to the National Counterterrorism Center also created as part of intelligence reforms. Goss objected because he believed that would erode the CIA's capability, an intelligence official said.
Perino said Goss had made "significant steps" to help integrate the CIA into the new structure under Negroponte.
"Then there was a collective agreement that now would be a time we could have a new CIA director come in to take the ball and move the agency forward from here," she said.
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