Meuterei bei der CIA

--- Die Arbeit der CIA wird mitten im "Krieg gegen den Terror" und der überaus angespannten Situation im Irak jetzt auch noch durch personelle Schwierigkeiten stark behindert, berichtet die Washington Post. Auslöser ist der neue von Bush auserkorene und von vornherein nicht unumstrittene Frontmann Porter J. Goss bzw. die von ihm mitgebrachte Führungscrew, gegen die sich anscheinend eine echte Meuterei beim Bestandspersonal richtet: The deputy director of the CIA resigned yesterday after a series of confrontations over the past week between senior operations officials and CIA Director Porter J. Goss's new chief of staff that have left the agency in turmoil, according to several current and former CIA officials. John E. McLaughlin, a 32-year CIA veteran who was acting director for two months this summer until Goss took over, resigned after warning Goss that his top aide, former Capitol Hill staff member Patrick Murray, was treating senior officials disrespectfully and risked widespread resignations, the officials said. ... Several other senior clandestine service officers are threatening to leave, current and former agency officials said. ... "It's the worst roiling I've ever heard of," said one former senior official with knowledge of the events. "There's confusion throughout the ranks and an extraordinary loss of morale and incentive." Current and retired senior managers have criticized Goss, former chairman of the House intelligence committee, for not interacting with senior managers and for giving Murray too much authority over day-to-day operations. Murray was Goss's chief of staff on the intelligence committee. Transitions between CIA directors are often unsettling for career officers. Goss's arrival has been especially tense because he brought with him four former members of the intelligence committee known widely on the Hill and within the agency for their abrasive management style and for their criticism of the agency's clandestine services in a committee report. Das alles dürfte Bush sehr, sehr ungelegen kommen.

Update: Eine Woche später ist das Thema auch bei Spiegel Online angekommen.