To the Point

The CIA, the Bush White House and American Security

After a long series of intelligence failures, Republicans and Democrats agree that changes need to be made at the CIA, but the latest resignations of top-level spies have raised widespread concern about turmoil at a dangerous time. While CIA Director Porter Goss said today there will be "no gap" in the war on terror, Senator John McCain is urging the White House to do "whatever is necessary" to clean house at what he calls a "dysfunctional" agency. But others insist that the CIA is merely the scapegoat for the Bush administration's selective use--or misuse--of intelligence information. Will the upheaval make America more secure? What about the 9/11 Commission's recommended reforms? We learn more about the turmoil and changes underway at the CIA from national security correspondents, and former officials of the CIA and the National Security Council. Making News: Condoleezza Rice Named Secretary of State President Bush made diplomatic history today by appointing the first African-American woman to be Secretary of State. He praised Condoleezza Rice for personifying "the strength, the grace and the decency of our country," and she, in turn, vowed to pursue the President's "hopeful and ambitious agenda." Professor Jerel Rosati, author of The Politics of United States Foreign Policy, has more on Rice's nomination. Reporter's Notebook: Lame-Duck Congress Convenes On Capitol Hill today, the old Congress is back in session, but very soon, it'll be replaced by a House and Senate that are more Republican than ever. That means big changes are ahead. Rudolph Bush, who reports from the Hill for the Chicago Tribune assesses how different the picture will be when the new Congress convenes in January.