Bush urged to quickly nominate new CIA director

A Senate report detailing serious flaws in US intelligence-gathering highlights the urgent need for a permanent CIA director given the current terrorist threat, leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee said.

George Tenet, who announced in early June that he was resigning for personal reasons, left the agency yesterday after seven years as director. His deputy, John McLaughlin, took over as acting director.

Mr Tenet’s departure came two days after the committee concluded that the CIA provided unfounded assessments of the threat posed by Iraq that the Bush administration relied on to justify going to war.

The White House gave no indication yesterday about when President George Bush would name a permanent director.

“An acting director for the next six or seven months, during such a dangerous period for the United States, with all of these talks about attacks on the United States, is not acceptable,” West Virginia Senator Jay Rockefeller, the committee’s top Democrat, said.

The chairman, Senator Pat Roberts of Kansas, said Mr McLaughlin’s ability to lead is limited as acting director even though he is “very skilled” and brings a lot of experience to the job.

“I hope the administration will send somebody up,” said Mr Roberts. “It will have to be an extraordinary nominee. If that’s the case, we will go full time into the hearings to get him or her confirmed.”

Committee members discussed several possible nominees: Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage; former Senator Sam Nunn, a Georgia Democrat; House Intelligence Committee Chairman Porter Goss, a Florida Republican; and former Navy Secretary John Lehman, a member of the commission investigating the September 11 attacks.

“Acting director McLaughlin is a strong and capable leader,” said Erin Healy, a White House spokeswoman. “The President will make a decision on a new CIA director in due course.”

A senior administration official said in early July that White House aides expect the announcement of the next director could happen soon. Officials close to Bush have said more than one person is under consideration to take over direction of the CIA and the 14 other agencies that make up the nation’s intelligence apparatus.

Federal officials said last week that intelligence from militant-linked websites and elsewhere indicated that al-Qaida wants to attack the US to disrupt the forthcoming presidential elections.

The government is putting in place elaborate security plans for the political conventions this summer in Boston and New York. Also, officials are considering how to secure polling places come November. Such security measures require a strengthened CIA to help execute, Mr Rockefeller said.

“I think that John McLaughlin is trying to make some changes, but making changes in the CIA after a 50-year history of Cold War operations and mentality is a very tough thing to bring about,” he said. “We have to do a better job.”