White House mum on need for national intelligence chief
WASHINGTON – The White House reserved judgment Monday about whether to establish a Cabinet-level national intelligence chief. President Bush said he was “still taking a good, hard look” at candidates to lead the CIA.
A major reorganization of the intelligence community and creation of a Cabinet-level intelligence agency are expected to be among primary recommendations of the independent commission that investigated the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
The commission announced it would release its final report Thursday at an 8:30 a.m. PDT news conference, the culmination of nearly 20 months’ investigation into the nation’s worst terror attack.
“The terrorist threat to the United States has not disappeared since September 11,” said Lee Hamilton, the commission’s vice chair. “Future attacks are expected. We hope that the president and the Congress study our recommendations with care and act on them quickly.”
Bush said he would await the commission’s report before commenting.
“Some of the reforms, I think, are necessary: more human intelligence, better ability to listen or to see things and better coordination amongst the variety of intelligence-gathering services,” the president said. “And so we’ll look at all their recommendations.”
He also said he was not ready to nominate a new CIA chief to replace George Tenet, who stepped down earlier this month. “Still thinking about it,” the president said. “Let you know when it’s going to happen. I know there’s intense speculation over time, and people get their hopes built up.”
He said he was “still taking a good, hard look.”
Acting CIA Director John McLaughlin said Sunday he thought there was no need for a Cabinet-level national intelligence chief. White House press secretary Scott McClellan said McLaughlin was speaking for himself, not the administration.
Since its inception in the 1940s, the director of the CIA also has held the title “director of central intelligence.” As the nation’s intelligence industry grew hugely over the years, however, the director’s authority largely was in title only.
“The president is very much open to ideas that build upon the reforms that we’re already implementing,” McClellan said.
The commission report also is expected to discuss any relationship between Iraq’s neighbor and traditional foe Iran and the al Qaeda terror organization.
Bush said the United States is exploring whether Iran had a role in the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Bush noted that McLaughlin has said that there was no direct connection, but Bush said, “We’re digging into the facts to see if there was one.”
“I have long expressed my concerns about Iran,” he said. “After all, it’s a totalitarian society where people are not allowed to exercise their rights as human beings.”
The commission said it would release its report, expected to run more than 500 pages, online on the commission’s Web site when the news conference begins Thursday. It also is to be available Thursday in bookstores and from the Government Printing Office.