Giuliani Could Be Waiting In The Wings
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Porter Goss (R-Fla.) has emerged as a leading candidate to head the CIA — but some insiders are also talking up former Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
President Bush appointed George Tenet’s deputy, John McLaughlin, as the CIA’s interim director yesterday, and officials said the president may wait until after the elections to select a new chief.
Officials said Bush may delay naming a new CIA head because there are a series of investigations and reviews of the CIA’s failures now under way in Congress that are likely to result in recommendations for widespread restructuring of U.S. intelligence agencies.
Garnering bipartisan backing, Goss, a popular Republican from Florida, is considered the early leader to replace Tenet, administration officials said.
A former CIA agent and Army Intelligence officer in the 1960s and ’70s, Goss played a key role in the investigations of the CIA’s recent intelligence failures and would win easy Senate confirmation, sources said.
But there is also a groundswell of support for Giuliani, a tough manager who won widespread praise for his leadership in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.
I don’t think so. Guiliani has not got the experience for that job. If I had my choice, I’d put Giuliani in Ashcroft’s place.
3 Comments
I got a better choice to replace Ashcroft. Rep Jim Sensenbrenner (Wis-R). He is head of the Judiciary Comm and a damn good sensible egg. A welcome relief after that loon Ashcroft.
Kathy, I’d like to agree with you about Rudy being a good AG, but I doubt it would work. Although he’s a man of integrity (generally, outside his personal life…) and strong character, he tends to get reeeeal personal about his crusades. His penchant for vindictiveness and autocratic decision-making could turn ugly if, say, something about drugs pisses him off and he decides to escalate the War Thereon. Don’t forget, the same guy who we saw be a hero on 9/11 is the same guy who gave us no-dancin in New York bars.
You’ve got a point there. But could he be worse than Ashcroft? And after 911, I suspect that if Rudy were AG, his crusade would be much more against those who attacked his city than anything else. And if he wants to get vindictive at the terrorists, I somehow doubt that would bother me one little bit.