The Central Intelligence Agency has refused to provide documents on its role in Iraq to the Senate Intelligence Committee. The Committee wants to know what the CIA is doing in Iraq, and how it can be coordinated with military and political efforts. No reason was given for the refusal, but many speculate that the report would have highlighted the infighting between the Pentagon and the CIA over their activity in Iraq — and could possibly be construed as second-guessing the President. This comes at a time when the CIA already in hot water with Congress for bungling September 11th.
The New York Times plays up the fact that CIA Director George Tenet sent his deputy to refuse Congress, saying that he had a meeting scheduled with the President. NYT also ties this refusal to the battle Vice President [redacted] Cheney is having with the GAO over documents relating to energy policy.
A follow-up piece in today’s NYT has Senator Bob Graham (D-FL) absolutely livid, accusing the CIA of obstructing the Constitutionally mandated Congressional oversight duty. It also mentions new legislation introduced by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) which would dissolve the CIA, and create an intelligence “czar,” who would coordinate efforts in the US intelligence agencies.
The Washington Post describes the argument somewhat more clearly. The CIA is supposed to issue “National Intelligence Estimates,” on Iraq: one for weapons of mass destruction, and another for coventional forces. They are traditionally focused on long-term issues in foreign countries. They summarize the opinions of different agencies, and are useful for revealing internal disagreements. The CIA says that NIEs are not used to assess US activity in foreign countries, as Congress wants. They are intended to cover only foreign activity in foreign countries.
a technology job is no excuse 