Goss Promises to Overhaul CIA Operations Abroad

New CIA Director Porter Goss pledged to agency employees that he would restructure the CIA Directorate of Operations, which conducts intelligence activities abroad, the Washington Post reported today (see GSN, Sept. 22).

“I think we need to rebuild a true global capability,” with “more eyes and ears everywhere,” Goss said last month in a private address to CIA employees on the day he began work, according to a transcript obtained by the Post.

Goss said he would allow officers to focus one “target” for extended periods and would stop “shuffling people around on artificial schedule.” He also said that he would encourage operatives and analysts to take greater risks, adding that “when it goes wrong,” he would provide his full support, the Post reported.

“I believe this very wholeheartedly,” Goss said. “We need to take risks” (Dana Priest, Washington Post, Oct. 22).

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