Hayden Pick Part Of CIA Changes

[cal04]

Ex-Official Likely To Get No. 2 Slot

The White House moved quickly yesterday to defuse concern over the nomination of Gen. Michael V. Hayden for CIA director, promising to balance the leadership of the nation's premier civilian spy agency with a well-known and popular veteran of the organization in the No. 2 position.

In a highly unorthodox move, the White House disclosed the plan shortly after President Bush's formal announcement of Hayden's nomination in the Oval Office, in hopes of reassuring those worried about too much military influence over the intelligence community. Under the plan, Vice Adm. Albert M. Calland III would be replaced as deputy director by retired CIA official Stephen R. Kappes, who quit in November 2004 in a dispute with then-Director Porter J. Goss.

The move was seen as a direct repudiation of Goss's leadership and as an olive branch to CIA veterans disaffected by his 18-month tenure, during which many other senior officials followed Kappes out the door. The White House was so eager to get out the news of Kappes's likely appointment that it was announced from the lectern in the briefing room, even though the Senate must confirm Hayden and Kappes has not yet been officially nominated.

Other Goss lieutenants at the agency also appear to be on the way out, following Goss, who resigned Friday. Kyle "Dusty" Foggo, brought in by Goss as the agency's executive director, announced to agency staff in an e-mail yesterday that he plans to resign as well. The FBI said it is investigating whether Foggo steered contracts to a friend, contractor Brent R. Wilkes. The CIA confirmed last week that Foggo attended private poker games with Wilkes at a Washington hotel.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/08/AR2006050800311.html

[CAG]

1. Gooood, now we'll get all 'dem CIA libruls out of there (all 8 of them).

;-)

[evermind]

2. That is pretty stunning - "direct repudation of Goss"

Makes you wonder just how bad things have got, if *co are reduced to repudiating the leadership of their own appointees after a mere 18 months. Something in there must really stink!