 Dick
Coffman is an international business and security
consultant and media commentator on intelligence,
homeland security and terrorism. He is managing
Director of Odysseus
Group International, which provides risk
management and security solutions to the transportation,
basic infrastructure and manufacturing industries.
Mr. Coffman specializes in ports and maritime
security and homeland defense. He is founder
and President of Coffman
Global Group, which leverages worldwide
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in high technology, basic materials and capital
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Mr. Coffman has conducted assessments of intelligence
operations for the U.S. Customs Service and
the Office of Naval Intelligence and for a
major defense contractor.
Mr. Coffman served 31 years in the Central
Intelligence Agency where he formed and managed
the Agency's first counterterrorism analytic
organization and served as Chief of Station,
chief of staff to the Director of the Clandestine
Service, coordinator of major worldwide covert
intelligence programs and CIA representative
to the NATO Commander.
He also served four years in the U.S. Marine
Corps, including duty in Vietnam in 1965 and
1966. Mr. Coffman remained in the Marine Corps
Reserves retiring in 1992 at the grade of
Colonel. Mr. Coffman is a student of military
history and an authority on the U.S. Civil
War.
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November 15, 2004
What promised to be a rebirth of a robust, aggressive CIA under Porter Goss’ leadership has quickly turned sour.
Goss already has failed his one chance to make a positive first impression. Nearly two months into his tenure, the situation is not irreversible, but it could become so without immediate intervention.
Tales of resignations, shouting matches, and open warfare at senior levels in Langley are publicly surfacing. There is dark talk of even worse to come, including White House directed, politically inspired dismissals.
Morale in the Agency’s Operations Directorate, which conducts the nation’s espionage and is on the front lines of the battle against terrorism is said to be at its lowest ebb since the directorship of Stansfield Turner in the late 70’s.
Whether such second-hand accounts are exaggerated or not, the Agency is clearly distracted from its important work, and early and urgent course corrections are necessary.
Most observers agree the turmoil started with the passel of congressional aides Goss brought with him and installed in high, influential positions in CIA. While not uncommon in the federal bureaucracy and certainly the prerogative of any new chief executive, it rarely goes down well in an agency that still considers itself a meritocracy and deeply believes hands-on experience is irreplaceable in the intelligence profession.
Goss, a former CIA Operations officer and long-time member of the intelligence oversight committee must have been familiar with the grief suffered by his predecessors, especially Turner, John Deutch and even to some extent, George Tenet, when they by-passed accomplished and experienced intelligence officers and brought close aides into senior CIA positions.
Goss’ assistants had already rubbed nerves raw in CIA last Summer when they drafted a House Intelligence Committee report so harshly critical of CIA, particularly the clandestine Directorate of Operations, that then DCI Tenet complained in a public letter.
It also hasn’t helped that many of these former congressional staffers accompanying Goss previously worked at CIA, leaving after short, undistinguished tenures.
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The aide Goss appointed as Executive Director, or day-to-day manager of the Agency immediately ran into trouble when his past resignation from CIA for petty theft surfaced. By all accounts, the others landed in CIA like a ton of bricks, walling off Goss from career officials and making clear they meant to make immediate and radical changes in the way the Agency did business.
Certainly Clandestine veterans themselves believe changes are required and have been clamoring for a return to the basics of espionage unencumbered by excessive bureaucracy, intrusive lawyering and politicized oversight. Many have been looking forward to Porter Goss as the right director at the right time to strengthen human source collection across-the-board, even employing “tough love” to make it happen.
But, turmoil at Langley has stopped promised reforms in their tracks. In an atmosphere of mutual distrust and animosity, Goss has yet to articulate the direction and substance of the moves he has in mind. In any event, his plans have been overshadowed by the lack of credibility and overbearing manner of his assistants.
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© 2004 Richard Coffman. All opinions expressed in this article
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