GOSS LINKS. Spencer Ackerman offers some useful thoughts on Porter Goss' resignation, drawing parallels between his experience and that of his predecessor, George Tenet, in attempting simultaneously to lead a fiercely turf-conscious bureaucracy while also carrying out Bush administration prerogatives inimical to that bureaucracy. Meanwhile, via Matt, National Review helpfully articulates the maximally pro-politicization line on the subject here. And Bob Dreyfuss laid out the story of Goss' battle against the agency's career officials and agents back in the Prospect's November cover story. That piece is a gripping read, and contains a quote from one former CIA official making one of the most awesomely inflammatory comparisons ever, regarding Goss's politicized purges on behalf of the President: �There aren�t any Arabists left in the CIA. They�re gone. They weren�t with the program. It�s like Pol Pot, who killed anybody wearing glasses because they might be able to read.�
Regarding the John Negroponte-Goss showdown that is currently the officially accepted explanation for the latter's sudden departure (continued skepticism notwithstanding), Dreyfuss' reporting indicated that career CIA bureaucrats believed Goss to be all too willing to acquiesce to Negroponte's encroachments. That was one of their central beefs with him.
--Sam Rosenfeld
