DEFENSE & FOREIGN POLICY
INIE
SN TELL
Deutch Promises Bold Steps
To Overhaul the CIA
eputy Defense Secretary John M.
Doeutcn is sending a clear signal
that, if confirmed by the Senate to
serve as director of the Central Intelli-
gence Agency, he will move swiftly
and aggressively to overhaul the trou-
bled organization.
The next director faces stiff com-
petition in defining a future mission
for the agency and repairing a reputa-
tion sullied by the Aldrich H. Ames
espionage case and allegations of CIA
complicity in two Guatemalan mur-
ders.
The House and Senate Intelligence
committees have embarked on far-
reaching reviews of the nation’s intel-
ligence-gathering apparatus, and a
special commission headed by former
Defense Secretary Les Aspin has
started work on its own indepen-
dent assessment. (Weekly Report, p.
41)
Dispelling any notion of a care-
taker role, Deutch, a 56-year-old
chemist and former provost at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technol-
ogy, boldly specified at his Senate con-
firmation hearing April 26 the steps he
will take to revive the CIA. His forth-
rightness and promise of a proactive
style won plaudits from members
the intelligence panel.
The committee plans to meet May
3 in executive session to vote on
Deutch’s nomination, with Republi-
cans and Democrats seeing a clear
path to Senate confirmation.
Deutch’s first order of business
would be to replace many of the top
Managers at the agency with a new
generation. He also plans to consoli-
date the management of imagery col-
lection operations and work with the
Defense Department to combine the
system for buying military and intelli-
ence satellites.
He also indicated that the FBI
could assume some of the CIA’s over-
Seas work in battling terrorism and
drug trafficking while the agency
lg onto other foreign responsibil-
ities,
Deutch placed a special emphasis
0n personally reviewing the Director-
ate of Operations, the CIA branch that
By Donna Cassata
LLIG
IGEN
ENCE
CE
aenaEA
“The redesign of the
Directorate of Operations
has to start from the
ground up.”
—John M. Deutch
of promoted Ames, a bungling “mole”
with a drinking problem, and failed to
detect him as he betrayed scores of
U.S. intelligence agents to the Rus-
sians. (1994 Weekly Report, p. 3136,
3455)
Questioned as to how deep his
management changes would reach,
Deutch was emphatic.
“The redesign of the Directorate of
Operations has to start from the
ground up,” he said. “As far down
required.”
Deutch’s vow not to maintain the
status quo as Congress and the Aspin
commission conduct their
was welcome news to lawmakers long
frustrated with recent CIA operations
and the tenure of former Director R.
James Woolsey.
The congressional oversight com-
mittees directed particular anger at
Woolsey for the light punishments
meted out for the Ames debacle.
Woolsey stepped down in January.
Sen. Richard G. Lugar, R-Ind.,
said Deutch’s statement laying out his
philosophy on intelligence and his
planned changes was “remarkable.
He said the nominee had offered
“a guide for us to judge your suc-
cess.”
The vice chairm an of the commit
.
-
tee, Sen. Bob Kerrey, D-Neb., said he
would be happy to see Deutch move
ahead of the Aspin commission, which
must report its findings to Congress
by March 1, 1996.
Another panel member, Sen. Wil-
liam S. Cohen, R-Maine, said the
oversight committees will “pretty
much see what he’s going to do. We
don’t want to interfere with what he
has in mind.”
Limited Grumblings
The one issue that continued to
trouble senators was President Clin-
ton’s accession to Deutch’s demand
that the CIA director be promoted
to Cabinet rank. (Weekly Report, p.
825)
Lawmakers fear that a CIA direc-
tor would be unable to provide unfet-
tered intelligence analysis if he got
ELLIS caught up in the administration’s pol-
icy-making. Specter recalled the last
major example of such a conflict —
former CIA Director William J. Casey,
who ran the Iran-contra operation in
the Reagan administration. Kerrey
said he had told the Clinton White
House that the issue wasn’t worth
pursuing.
Deutch repeatedly sought to reas-
sure the committee that he will draw a
clear line between intelligence pro-
vider and policy-maker. He argued
that Clinton’s move was a means of
signaling support for the intelligence
community.
“The standard is clear for me, and
it will govern my behavior,” Deutch
said.
But Specter asked that Deutch and
Clinton rethink the decision.
The other dissension for Deutch
as has come from Persian Gulf War vet-
erans angry with the Defense Depart-
ment’s investigation of possible chem-
ical-weapons exposure in the region
analyses and its link to a series of unexplained
illnesses.
Kerrey and Sen. Richard C.
Shelby, R-Ala., questioned Deutch
about the veterans’ complaints. The
deputy Defense secretary said the de-
partment is taking all steps to deter-
he mine whether chemical or biological
weapons were used or present in the
gulf, and he dismissed suggestions
that he was covering up informa-
tion. 2
CQ APRIL 29, 1995 — 1193