The end of independent intelligence

<![CDATA[Porter Goss, the former Republican firebrand Congressman and current firebrand Republican Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, is transforming the agency into a political tool. He's told staff that the agency must "support the administration and its policies in our work,'' according to a document leaked to the media this week.
No opposition to Administration policy will be tolerated and liberal Democrats are currently be purged from the Agency, even though Goss testified during his confirmation that he would be “nonpartisan.” It is hard to imagine how any previous director of the CIA would have gotten away with this kind of flip-flopping, but in the case of the Bush Administration, it seems the only mission is to turn the entire government into a Republican political tool. Even Republicans should be afraid of this, because it will blind the nation to threats the Administration refuses to see and, with the Republican party already undergoing a schism between its far right and moderate wings, the CIA’s compromised role could be used against dissenters in the party, just as the FBI and CIA were during the civil rights and Vietnam era.]]>