Monday’s nomination by U.S. President George W. Bush of Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden to take over the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from the hapless Porter Goss has predictably intensified speculation over what is really going on behind the scenes.

Most analysts see the shifts as the latest battle between the director of national intelligence (DNI), John Negroponte, and Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld in the war over control of the multiple functions of the sprawling, $40-billion-a-year intelligence community.

But opinion appears deeply divided over which bureaucratic titan will emerge as this round’s winner, although few doubt that the unceremonious dismissal of a CIA director who served less than 20 months on the job Ð particularly by a president who has proven dogged in retaining loyal servants despite strong evidence of incompetence Ð is filled with portent.
antiwar.com

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