EDITORIAL
Nomination of CIA chief needs close look

There is nothing wrong in principle with appointing a congressman — and a former CIA agent himself to boot — to become director of the CIA.

In fact, because the congressman spent years as head of the House Select Committee on Intelligence, his potential as CIA chief should be even more impressive.

Still, President Bush's appointment Tuesday of Rep. Porter Goss to head the CIA raises questions that must be resolved as hearings on his nomination proceed.

It is possible that Goss' experience in Congress will allow him to work effectively with former colleagues to reform today's impossible oversight situation that makes the intelligence establishment report, literally, to dozens of committees.

It's also true that critics who fault the CIA for letting "humint," human intelligence, capabilities slip in recent years may be encouraged by Goss being a CIA agent from 1962 to 1971.

One can expect that the CIA under Goss will move strongly in the direction of getting spies back on the ground, although one can hope we won't see a return to the rough and tumble days of anti-Castro activities in Miami and the Caribbean in the '60s.

But despite those strengths, there are reservations about Goss' appointment that deserve more than cursory review by the Senate:

The bipartisan congressional 9/11 report powerfully urges reform of the intelligence services. Filling the old, unreformed CIA position now with another old-school CIA man — even before Congress has decided whether to create a new overall intelligence czar — may suggest fundamental resistance to reform at the White House.

What the nation needs at the head of the CIA is a man for all seasons, one who can reasonably be expected to be retained by the next president, regardless of party, and one who will advise any president skillfully and dispassionately.

A man, perhaps, similar to retired Adm. Stansfield Turner, who was CIA chief during the Carter administration, who said Goss is "the worst appointment that's ever been made" to the office because it "needs to be kept above partisan politics." But Turner himself, it should be noted, is a supporter of Sen. John Kerry for president, and as such is equally unfit.

Goss' strong record as a GOP partisan in the swing state of Florida and his deep roots in the old CIA deserve to be fully explored by the Senate.

What the nation needs is a strong, nonpartisan and forward-looking figure who can lead our intelligence establishment out of the wilderness. The Senate's job is to determine whether Goss, considering his background, will be able to fill that bill.