Nutbar Conspiracy Theory?

[blufive]

Newsday:

November 14, 2004

WASHINGTON -- The White House has ordered the new CIA director, Porter Goss, to purge the agency of officers believed to have been disloyal to President George W. Bush or of leaking damaging information to the media about the conduct of the Iraq war and the hunt for Osama bin Laden, according to knowledgeable sources.

"The agency is being purged on instructions from the White House," said a former senior CIA official who maintains close ties to both the agency and to the White House. "Goss was given instructions ... to get rid of those soft leakers and liberal Democrats. The CIA is looked on by the White House as a hotbed of liberals and people who have been obstructing the president's agenda."

One of the first casualties appears to be Stephen R. Kappes, deputy director of clandestine services, the CIA's most powerful division. [...]

Purges. For political disloyalty.

Yikes.

[later: more here.

... chief of the clandestine service, Stephen R. Kappes, said he would resign rather than carry out [Goss aide Patrick] Murray's demand to fire Kappes's deputy, Michael Sulick, for challenging Murray's authority.

Much less emphasis on political motivation, but firing people for talking back to the boss doesn't sound healthy, either. Goss also seems to have the sort of allergic reaction to the word "bureaucrat" that is distressingly common amongst certain gung-ho politicians on both sides of the pond.]

Comments

[yonmei.livejournal.com]

The CIA as a hotbed of liberals?

That's ... genuinely disturbing.

[major-clanger.livejournal.com]

Well, y'see, it's full of geeky analysts who read about foriegn countries. Very suspicious behaviour...

MC

[maryrcrumpton.livejournal.com]

Yikes indeed!

Mary x

ps I friended you, dunno if you noticed, but hope you don't mind. I like the look of you LOL. Feel free to friend me back if you wish.

[blufive.livejournal.com]

hope you don't mind

Good grief, no. Read away.

I never can figure out why some people get stressed about the whole friend/de-friend thing. I'm pretty random about it, myself...

[morningstar-lj.livejournal.com]

Or alternatively, they are firing people who should be (a) keeping confidential operational information secret and (b) not getting involved in domestic politics due to the sensitive nature of their jobs.

[zotz]

The suspicion is that the disloyalty consists of having objected to the pressure to agree that there were WMDs when the executive really wanted the intelligence community to help (or possibly bale) them out.

[del-c.livejournal.com]

This would be like the firing of the guy who leaked Valerie Plame's covert operational status to the press, or the firing of Porter Goss the GOP zealot?

But, oh, it looks like the Plame leaker is safe, and Goss has been put in charge! Quelle surprise.

[stsquad.livejournal.com]

Well in theory I'm for firing people and charging them for breaking the official secrets act. After all spies are not very good spies if they tell everyone what they are up to.

Over here however you charge them and put them in front of a judge and you can argue a public interest defence. I have no idea what sort of oversight the process has in the states. Maybe some of our cousins over the pond can enlighten us?

[blufive.livejournal.com]

Well, I know that anyone who (for instance) leaks the identity of a clandestine operative to the press, they get the FBI sicced on 'em. However, if they work on the present White House staff, such investigations seem to go very slowly.

[blufive.livejournal.com]

Could be. But, as del_c mentioned, there's at least one case of leaking confidential operational information (Plame's identity) that was leaked from within the executive branch, probably the White House staff, where everyone (up to and including Bush and Cheney) is closing ranks to protect the leaker. FBI investigation ongoing, but I don't expect much to come of it.

Then there's the senior military officers who seemed quite happy to turn up in uniform to (Republican, natch) party political events in the last few months. Which is ever-so-slightly illegal. Not much sign of them being asked to leave. As for ordering encouraging their subordinates to come along, too...

Mustn't forget the senior military brass who got the chop for daring to tell Rumsfeld that the propsed Iraqi occupation force was undermanned, either.

There are also signs that talking back to the new boss and his immediate cronies, or refusing to fire those who do, seem to be good ways to join the list of departures. (see second link, just added to my post)

I'm afraid I find the idea of the Bush II adminstration running an ideological/vindictive purge of an agency that's publicly disagreed with them all too plausible.