Selected spy chief called a CIA critic

WASHINGTON -- The Republican lawmaker selected by President Bush as America's next spy chief has complained that the CIA is afraid to risk the lives of its officers, too often micromanages its secret operations and ignores its critics.

But Porter J. Goss more often is accused of having too cozy a relationship with the espionage agency where he once worked.

Goss met Wednesday with acting CIA Director John E. McLaughlin in Washington away from CIA headquarters. Earlier this week, he described CIA employees as "some wonderful Americans doing a great job."

Goss recruited and ran spies for the agency during the 1960s in Latin America and western Europe until an illness forced him to retire.

Both his praise and complaints from eight years as the CIA's chief watchdog in Congress will color his confirmation hearing to be the new director of America's premier espionage agency. Goss has given up his job as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, replaced temporarily by Rep. Sherwood Boehlert, R-N.Y.

Former CIA Director George Tenet bristled at criticism earlier this summer by Goss and others on the intelligence panel who complained that the CIA's operations directorate, which carries out its secret missions, "needs fixing." Goss and other critics said the outfit could become a "stilted bureaucracy incapable of even the slightest bit of success."

They also complained that the CIA was deaf to critics inside and outside, that it had misallocated resources and continued to fear political consequences from risky secret operations.

Tenet fired back, writing in an unusual June 23 letter to Goss as chairman of the committee that it was "frankly absurd" to suggest CIA wasn't successful and said he was "deeply disappointed" at the criticisms of the clandestine service -- where Goss himself had worked through the 1960s.

Goss has also complained, as part of the congressional investigation into the Sept. 11 attacks, that the CIA was too reluctant to take risks that might result in the deaths of its officers.

Despite that, Goss in the past has been viewed as close to the agency and a defender of its actions.

"He knows their secret handshake," said James Lewis, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. "Goss has a good reputation and is one of them. If anything, he's a link with its romantic past. I don't think people (at the CIA) are nervous."

Leading Democrats have indicated they plan to question Goss aggressively at his confirmation hearings, expected in early September, about whether a Republican lawmaker in charge of oversight at CIA during the Sept. 11 attacks can make necessary changes at the agency. The CIA is in the crosshairs of reform proposals that include creating a new national intelligence director and a new national intelligence center.

Sen. Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Bush's selection of Goss was a mistake because the job should be given to someone who wasn't a politician.

As the president's nominee, Goss will be offered an office at CIA headquarters before his hearings and will be given sensitive briefings on any topics he requests, subject to his security clearance. Some nominees hired as directors from outside the CIA have sought extensive briefings; others promoted from within CIA have asked for less information.

"The objective is to help a DCI designate in whatever way we can prepare for their confirmation hearing and, upon confirmation, lead the organization," said CIA spokesman Mark Mansfield. "Some elect to do this, others don't feel it's necessary. It's a matter of personal preference, and we tailor the nature and extent of our support to the DCI designate's preferences."