Dissident CIA Faction 'Exposed'

[Ryan Ruck]

The result of penetration by the Axis powers? Sounds likely to me!

Dissident CIA Faction 'Exposed'

A high-ranking Republican congressman has exposed what he sees as a dissident faction within the CIA that he says "intentionally undermined" the policies of US President George W Bush.

Rumours about the existence of such a group have circulated in the US capital for a long time, but the comments by Representative Peter Hoekstra, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, marks the first time they were confirmed by an official with intimate knowledge of the intelligence community.

"In fact, I have been long concerned that a strong and well-positioned group within the agency intentionally undermined the administration and its policies," Mr Hoekstra wrote in a letter to Mr Bush dated May 18, and made public today.

The CIA has refused to comment on the charge.

The document has been obtained by The New York Times and posted on its website in its entirety. Mr Hoekstra confirmed its authenticity in a television interview today, but did not elaborate on his concerns.

The allegations stem from a Central Intelligence Agency leak investigation that centred on former CIA operative Valerie Plame, whose husband, retired ambassador Joseph Wilson, made a 2002 trip to Niger to check on reports that Iraq had secretly tried to purchase uranium ore there.

The Bush administration had used those reports to accuse the government of then-Iraqi president Saddam Hussein of trying to secretly build a nuclear arsenal, charges that were used to justify the March 2003 US-led invasion of the country.

Ms Plame's name was disclosed to the public in July 2003 by conservative columnist Robert Novak after her husband accused the Bush administration in a newspaper article of "exaggerating the Iraqi threat".

Lewis "Scooter" Libby, a former chief of staff for Vice President Richard Cheney, was indicted in connection with the illegal blowing of the cover of the secret agent.

[falcon]

I wonder if this report is fact or is half made up, input anyone


Congressman's letter: Anti-Bush faction now controls CIA

Former CIA officer Valerie Plame, right, and her husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson (AP).

The CIA has been taken over by a dissident faction that seeks to undermine President Bush.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Peter Hoekstra has identified the anti-Bush faction in a letter to the president. Mr. Hoekstra said the faction appears to be led by Mr. Bush's recent appointments to the agency.

"In fact, I have been long concerned that a strong and well-positioned group within the agency intentionally undermined the administration and its policies," Mr. Hoekstra wrote in a May 18 letter to Mr. Bush.

The letter echoed assertions throughout the intelligence community that senior CIA officials sought to undermine the U.S.-led war against Iraq.

Sources in the community said the dissident faction joined with colleagues in the State Department to target exiled Iraqi democrats, particularly Ahmad Chalabi.

"There is clearly a faction in the CIA that appears sworn to overturn the president's policies," said a congressional source responsible for monitoring the CIA. "What is amazing is that the president has undermined his loyalists and promoted his enemies."

In his letter, Mr. Hoekstra agreed with this assessment. The House committee chairman said the anti-Bush faction has taken over the CIA with Mr. Bush's appointment of Stephen Kappes to be the agency’s deputy director. Mr. Kappes quit the agency in 2004 when he disagreed with then-Director Porter Goss' changes at the CIA. In particular, Mr. Kappes was said to have been angered by Mr. Goss’ efforts to clamp down on leaks to the media that were unfavorable to the Bush administration.

"I understand that Mr. Kappes is a capable, well-qualified, and well-liked former Directorate of Operations (DO) case officer," Mr. Hoekstra wrote. "I am heartened by the professional qualities he would bring to the job, but concerned by what could be the political problems that he could bring back to the agency."

Mr. Hoekstra said the dissident faction has for years been successful in politicizing the agency. He said Mr. Goss had tried and failed to end this process and was replaced by a leadership that supports an anti-Bush agenda

The dissident faction, the letter said, was responsible for a number of damaging leaks from the CIA. Mr. Hoekstra said this could have included the criticism by former U.S. Ambassador Joseph Wilson, whose wife is CIA operative Valerie Plame.

In 2002, months before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, Mr. Wilson was sent by the CIA—on the recommendation of Mrs. Plame—to Niger to examine reports that Iraq sought to procure uranium ore from the African country.

Later, Mr. Wilson accused the administration of exaggerating the Iraqi threat. In 2003, Mrs. Plame's identity was leaked by the administration to columnist Robert Novak. Mr. Novak said he was informed of Mrs. Plame's identity by an administration source, who he has not named, and that her identity as a CIA operative was confirmed by Mr. Bush’s Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove.

Mr. Kappes is said to be part of a dissident faction that sent Mr. Wilson to Niger to get evidence on the Iraqi connection. This was done without the authority of then-CIA Director George Tenet.

Several conservative Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill charge that the dissident faction within the CIA has been deliberately pursuing an anti-Bush, status-quo agenda, refusing to make the necessary intelligence changes at the agency to deal with the new post-Cold War threats posed by al Qaeda, Iran, Iraq and North Korea. The faction was said to be key in the harassment and near assassination of Mr. Chalabi in 2004 near Baghdad, amid the accusation that he was an Iranian agent. Mr. Chalabi, a pivotal Iraqi exile who supported the administration’s campaign to topple Saddam Hussein, challenged the CIA’s anti-war and status-quo agenda. Mr. Chalabi’s opposition sparked major questions in Congress on the agency's knowledge of Iraq, its view of the Saddam regime and the CIA’s refusal to include pro-American Iraqis within the interim government in Baghdad.

"In fact, I have long been convinced that a strong and well-positioned group within the Agency intentionally undermined the Administration and its policies," Mr. Hoekstra wrote. "This argument is supported by the Ambassador Wilson/Valerie Plame events, as well as by the string of unauthorized disclosures from an organization that prides itself with being able to keep secrets."

Mr. Hoekstra identified a close associate of Mr. Kappes, his deputy Michael Sulick, as another anti-Bush suspect. The chairman said Mr. Kappes and Mr. Sulick were bypassing Congress in an effort to promote their personal agendas.

"The fact, Mr. Kappes and his deputy, Mr. Sulick, were developing a communications offensive to bypass the Intelligence Committees and the CIA's own Office of Congressional Affairs," Mr. Hoekstra said. "Every day we suffer from the consequences of individuals promoting their personal agendas. This is clearly a place at which we do not want or need to be."

www.insightmag.com/Media/MediaManager/CIA2.htm

[Ryan Ruck]

falcon,
I've gone ahead and combined your post with a thread I already posted dealing with a split in the CIA in the Miscellaneous Trans-Asian Axis forum.