Intelligence reform proposal finds little outright support

A far-reaching intelligence reform proposal unveiled Sunday by Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan., has been met this week with reactions ranging from cool to hostile from the White House, current and former administration officials and lawmakers.

The most radical aspect of Roberts' proposal, which is supported by other Republican members of the Senate intelligence panel, would convert the three main directorates of the CIA into separate agencies and place them under the control of a national intelligence director. The new director would also be given control over some intelligence agencies and operations currently controlled by the Defense Department - the National Security Agency, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and the human intelligence service of the Defense Intelligence Agency. In addition, the national intelligence director would have full budgetary and personnel authority over the intelligence units of other Cabinet-level departments and the remaining DIA analytical elements.

Roberts' proposal is the latest move in a debate on intelligence reform set off by the release last month of the recommendations of the Sept. 11 commission, one of which was the creation of a national intelligence director to oversee the entire U.S. intelligence community. Most of the discussion on the proposed position has focused on what level of budgetary and personnel authority the new director should have.

U.S. President George W. Bush on Monday did not comment directly on the merits of Roberts' proposal, saying instead that the White House is "looking at all options."

"Senator Roberts is a good, thoughtful guy who came up with an idea, and … we'll look at it. … We'll take a look at it, determine, you know, whether or not it works or not. But there's going to be a lot of other ideas, too, as this debate goes forward," Bush said following a meeting with defense officials at his ranch in Crawford, Texas.

While supportive of the creation of a national intelligence director, Bush said that he did not want the new director to stand between "me and my line operators, like the secretary of defense."

"In other words, once intelligence is in place and once we've … come up with a decision as to how to act, I want to make sure the person responsible for the action has a direct report to me," he said.

The White House may now attempt to "recapture the initiative" in the intelligence reform debate, possibly by releasing a set of executive orders implementing reform measures, said Steven Aftergood, director of the Federation of American Scientists' Project on Government Secrecy.

The White House wants to show that "it's leading the debate, not following others," he said Tuesday.

The most hostile and vocal criticism of Roberts' proposal has come from current and former intelligence officials. Former CIA Director George Tenet was quoted Tuesday by the Washington Post as saying that the proposal would "gut the CIA."

"Senator Roberts' proposal is yet another episode in the mad rush to rearrange wiring diagrams in an attempt to be seen as doing something," Tenet said. "It is time for someone to slam the brakes on before the politics of the moment drives the security of the American people off a cliff."

Agence France-Presse Tuesday quoted Tenet's acting replacement, John McLaughlin, as calling Roberts' proposal "a step backward."

The U.S. Defense Department, which has urged caution throughout the intelligence reform debate, plans to examine Roberts' proposal, a Pentagon official said Tuesday. The official added that it was "too premature" to comment on the plan's merits.

"They key thing … is to entertain any and all proposals at this point," especially those coming from "an experienced hand like the senator," the Pentagon official said.

In Congress, Roberts' proposal was met with criticism by Senator Jay Rockefeller (W.Va.), the top Democrat on the Senate intelligence committee. While saying Sunday that he had not seen the details of the proposal, Rockefeller said that any action to disband the CIA while the United States was engaged in the war on terrorism would be a "severe mistake."

Rockefeller and other Democratic members of the Senate intelligence panel have also criticized the proposal for being developed by Republican senators without their input.

A spokesman for Senate Armed Services Committee John Warner, R-Va., said on Monday that while the senator has not been briefed on Roberts' proposal, he has "concerns" about any move to transfer Pentagon intelligence assets and to limit the defense secretary's budgetary and personnel authority "during wartime."

"There are legislative steps that can be taken now to strengthen our intelligence community without causing disruption during wartime, and Chairman Warner intends to work with other senators over the next few weeks to craft them," Warner spokesman John Ullyot said in a statement.

Warner previously suggested enhancing the stature and authority of the director of central intelligence as a reform measure.

Roberts on Monday sought to respond to critics of his proposal, citing as an example of successful change the 1947 National Security Act, which converted the U.S. Army Air Corps into the U.S. Air Force.

"Did the change of uniform, leadership and name 'gut' our air power capabilities? Absolutely not. In less than three years from its creation, the Air Force transitioned from the propeller age to the jet age and successfully engaged the North Koreans in both air interdiction and air superiority campaigns during the Korean War," he said in a statement.

The leaders of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, Chairwoman Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Sen. Joseph Lieberman D-Conn., on Monday "thanked" Roberts for his proposal, but also did not comment on its specifics. The committee is responsible for submitting intelligence reform legislation to the full Senate by Oct. 1.

"We thank Senator Roberts for his response to our request for input on these issues and value the recommendations as we draft legislation to reorganize our country's intelligence agencies, with the ultimate goal of strengthening the intelligence system to make our country safer," Collins and Lieberman said in a joint statement.

"We also welcome the opinions and proposals of others who have expertise in this area, as we proceed with this important undertaking," they added.

Representative Jane Harman, D-Calif., ranking member on the House intelligence committee, said that she welcomed news that Republicans on the Senate intelligence panel "favor major structural reform."

The office of Representative Porter Goss, R-Fla., who Bush has named as his choice for CIA director, did not return calls for comment. Goss has served for the past eight years as chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence