TIME seems to think they have the full story on Why Goss is Gone, but they don't:
Goss's departure was, above all, a signal that Negroponte was finally exercising his powers and trying to slip the stray agencies into harness.Nothing about prostitutes and poker parties, but - credit where it's due - lots of interesting nevertheless.
They give an insight into the massive power shuffle towards Negroponte, which should really chill the blood of any informed spectators:
In April Hayden let it be known that his office would be taking over the critical job of terrorism analysis—connecting the dots in all the raw data gathered on terrorists—a role the cia had jealously guarded for decades. In an unusual public speech, Hayden likened the cia's slow-to-change attitude about roles and missions to "crowding the ball." Negroponte also fought the agency's objections when he pushed to share more intelligence with spy chiefs of other countries—something the cia had opposed for years because agents feared that wider distribution could compromise sources. And in March, Negroponte asked the cia to provide him with a rundown of all its station chiefs worldwide.Goss is no angel of course, but Negroponte is really the last person you would ever want assuming such control. Not that the average US voter gives a flying fuck, of course.
The bottom line seems to be that there has been lots of bad blood between Goss and Negroponte since both of them came from nowhere to seize these massively important jobs. And the sleaze allegations reaching Goss were either the last straw or a convenient excuse for a takeover: Negoponte leaned on Bush, with the help of a little select circle of advisors (who seem to have taken over the Cheney/Rove role).
That's my reading of it, anyway.
Still no mention of prostitutes and the Watergate Hotel from TIME, mind you. This is all we get:
Then there was the X factor in Goss's departure: his judgment about people. After bringing with him a boarding party of staff members who seemed to specialize in mishandling personnel matters, Goss promoted Kyle (Dusty) Foggo to be the cia's executive director and top budget chief. Foggo is now at the center of a growing investigation into a federal bribery case that has already sent former California Congressman Randy (Duke) Cunningham to prison for more than eight years. A source close to the investigation tells Time that the Justice Department is investigating reports that one of Cunningham's benefactors, Pentagon and cia contractor Brent Wilkes, a buddy of Foggo's since high school, provided Foggo with improper gifts, such as lavish vacations.Big Media is running scared of litigation, as usual.
Mind you, this can all be seen as yet another sign of Bush Co desperation. Check this out:
Until early last year, Hayden ran the supersecret National Security Agency at Fort Meade, Md., which covertly eavesdrops on conversations worldwide. It was under Hayden that the Bush Administration launched a secret, warrantless wiretapping program that began capturing conversations of private citizens at home, causing an explosion of criticism last December for being outside the legal process.Like the Independent, TIME thinks all this is now lining up a showdown between Negroponte and Rumsfeld. You have to wonder why? Don't these stupid old war-mongering bastards realise that they will all be dead soon?
