Former CIA chief raps intelligence bill (Webster)

[struggle4progress]

By W. DALE NELSON
Star-Tribune correspondent Saturday, February 26, 2005

LARAMIE -- The intelligence bill passed by Congress is a needed step toward consolidating American spy operations under one administrator, but is ambiguous and "created more questions than it answered," former CIA Director William H. Webster said Friday. <snip>

He said he was confident that Negroponte and CIA Director Porter Goss "will do everything possible to make this effective." However, he said, there is talk that the national intelligence office will require 500 to 1,000 new staff members, so "that layer of government that we wanted to avoid appears to be unavoidable for the moment, and that is going to cut into our effectiveness, I am sure."

Webster was named to the CIA post by President Reagan in 1987 and served until 1991. <snip>

http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2005/02/26/news/wyoming/d13e4f073d72770687256fb30069c852.txt

Webster seeks further consolidation of powers and gushes happy noises about the Patriot Act.