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As usual , it is all smoke and mirrors and pure politics with the Bush administration which is increasingly desperate to portray their commander-in-chief as capable of making sound decisions ~ even in the face of an obvious wrong one with Porter Goss as head of the CIA.
The Center for Amerrican Progress lays out the true facts about Goss and also adds ; " According to a Republican operative quoted in the Washington Post, Goss was nominated to head the CIA yesterday because "poll data showed Kerry had closed the gap with Bush on the handling of terrorism and was slightly ahead as fit to be commander in chief." The nomination of Goss was made as a political calculation "to show that Bush was moving ahead."
Allen L Roland
Is Goss the Right Choice?
Center For American Progress 8/11/04
The CIA, beset by major intelligence failures in the lead up to 9/11 and the war in Iraq, needs a new leader who is committed to reform and can transcend partisanship. Is Rep. Porter Goss (R-FL) – nominated by President Bush yesterday – the right person for the job? As a former clandestine intelligence officer and chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, his knowledge of the agency is unquestioned. But his recent record of strident partisanship and marked disagreement with the White House and the 9/11 Commission on the role of the CIA director raises serious doubts about whether he is the right choice, particularly at a time when there is a clear need to depoliticize intelligence. (Read this statement and backgrounder on the Goss nomination from American Progress.)
GOSS ENGAGES IN PARTISAN ATTACK ON HOUSE FLOOR: Though CIA Directors are typically non-partisan and apolitical, Goss is anything but. On June 23, 2004, Goss – parroting talking points from the Bush/Cheney campaign – attacked presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) on the House floor. Goss held up a blowup of a chart about 1997 reductions in the intelligence budget and blamed "such distinguished Members of the Congress as Senator John Kerry...I got books full of that stuff. There is no doubt where the record is. The Democratic party did not support the intelligence community."
GOSS REBUTS KERRY SPEECH ON BEHALF OF BUSH CAMPAIGN: After John Kerry delivered a major national security address in early June, Goss was tapped by the Bush/Cheney campaign to provide their official rebuttal. Goss wrote in a statement released on Bush's campaign website that "John Kerry's speech today amounted to little more than political 'me-tooism.' He laid out some old goals that everyone agrees to, without offering concrete proposals to achieve them. He also neglected the President's historic achievements in this area." In "an effort to revise history and expunge...[Goss'] record of partisan attacks," the Bush campaign removed Goss' statement from its website yesterday. After it was called on the tactic, it restored the statement several hours later. Bush/Cheney communications director Nicolle Devenish called the decision to remove Goss' statement "a mistake."
GOSS PLAYS SPIN DOCTOR ON CAMPAIGN CONFERENCE CALL: Participating in a conference call with reporters on behalf of the Bush/Cheney campaign, Goss "answered 'clearly yes' to a question about whether Bush's policy toward North Korea was producing results." According to Goss, due to Bush's policies, North Korea is "no longer making progress they were making at Yongbyon [their key nuclear production site] and other places because we have called their bluff." But according to U.S. intelligence, since Bush has taken office, "North Korea has thrown out inspectors, removed nuclear fuel from internationally monitored storage, and may have increased the size of its nuclear arsenal."
GOSS MOCKS SUGGESTION TO INVESTIGATE THE OUTING OF VALERIE PLAME: As chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Goss refused to investigate the outing of undercover CIA operative Valerie Plame by a senior member of the White House staff. Goss told a newspaper last October that when "somebody sends me a blue dress and some DNA, I'll have an investigation.'"
GOSS DISAGREES WITH BUSH, 9/11 COMMISSION ON ROLE OF CIA DIRECTOR: Two months ago, Goss introduced a bill "making the CIA director the intelligence czar, with control over the CIA, responsibility for advising the president and budget authority over all 15 intelligence agencies." The 9/11 Commission concluded that "the three jobs are too much for one official." Bush, on the other hand, has lent at least rhetorical support to the 9/11 Commission's recommendation for a separate intelligence czar. Goss' nomination threatens to further undermine the Commission because "it is unlikely that Goss would have said yes to the job only to have a more powerful intelligence official between himself and Bush."
TIMING OF GOSS NOMINATION POLITICALLY MOTIVATED: According to a Republican operative quoted in the Washington Post, Goss was nominated to head the CIA yesterday because "poll data showed Kerry had closed the gap with Bush on the handling of terrorism and was slightly ahead as fit to be commander in chief." The nomination of Goss was made as a political calculation "to show that Bush was moving ahead."
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