Bush picks Congressman Goss to head troubled CIA

WASHINGTON, Aug 10 (AFP) - Hoping to revamp the spy agency hit by criticism from the September 11 inquiry and over pre-war intelligence in Iraq, President George W. Bush on Tuesday picked Representative Porter Goss to head the troubled Central Intelligence Agency.
Goss`s nomination comes one month after former CIA director George Tenet left his job, battered by criticism over the failure to predict the September 11, 2001 attacks and faulty information on the existence of chemical and biological weapons in Iraq.
Goss, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, "is a leader with strong experience in intelligence and the fight against terrorism. He knows the CIA inside and out," Bush said as he announced the nomination in the White House Rose Garden. Goss, 65, stood at his side.
"He`s the right man to lead this important agency at this critical moment in our nation`s history," Bush added.
A prominent Republican, Goss has represented a congressional district in southwestern Florida for 15 years. In Congress, Goss "built a reputation as a reformer," Bush said, adding that he will also be "a reformer at the Central Intelligence Agency."
Bush has already partially accepted a recommendation by the official investigation into the September 11 attacks calling for the creation of a national intelligence director and a national counterterrorism center, with oversight authority over 15 US intelligence agencies.
"What many Americans don`t realise is that we`ve got an awful lot of people around the globe doing very, very hard work, long hours and dangerous situations," Goss said Tuesday.
"The essence of our intelligence capability is people. And we have some wonderful Americans doing a great job."
Goss graduated from Yale University in 1960. He was an army intelligence officer from 1960-62, then a clandestine CIA agent until 1971, when a serious illness forced him to retire.
Few details of his CIA work have been made public, but Bush told how Goss had served on "two continents".
According to media reports, Goss served in Europe and Latin America. In a 2002 interview with the Washington Post, Goss said he had some "very interesting moments" serving in southern Florida during the 1962 Cuban missile crisis.
His position as chairman of the powerful House intelligence committee put him at the heart of efforts to reform the CIA after September 11 and the Iraq invasion.
Goss played a key role in the congressional probe of intelligence failures before the September 11, 2001 attacks, which killed about 3,000 people.
His nomination still has to be approved by the Senate, and some Democrats have promised a tough fight before a vote.
Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry was non-committal on Goss`s nomination, but did call for "fair, bipartisan and expeditious (Senate) confirmation hearings" on the nomination.
Kerry however added in a statement that the "most important position is one that hasnt been created yet, national intelligence director with real control of budgets and personnel."
"The most important thing we can do right now is reform and strengthen our intelligence services as the 9/11 Commission has recommended," Kerry said, in reference to the national inquiry panel on the terror attacks that issued its final report last month. "I hope that Congressman Goss shares this view and will now support the creation of this important post."
Goss was first elected to Congress in 1988. Before entering the House, he served on the city council for the Florida city of Sanibel, and later as the city`s mayor.
A 15-year veteran of Congress from the electorally crucial state of Florida, Goss is a strong Bush supporter and recently slammed Kerry`s national security views as "unrealistic and dangerously naive."
The nomination drew praise from several Democrats as well as Republicans. But some in Kerry`s party were leery about politicizing the intelligence reform process with the choice of Goss.
"A person should not be the director of central intelligence who has acted in a very political way," Representative Nancy Pelosi, the House Democratic leader, told reporters Tuesday.