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CIA still 'incredibly vital' to security, says Bush

LANGLEY, Va. - President Bush promised CIA employees on Thursday they would retain an "incredibly vital" role in safeguarding the nation's security despite a reorganization that diminishes the agency's 60-year dominance of the intelligence community.

"I know there's some uncertainty about what this reform means to the people of the CIA. And I wanted to assure them that the reforms will strengthen their efforts and make it easier for them to do their job, not harder," Bush told reporters during a morale-boosting visit to the spy agency.

Bush's trip came a day after CIA director Porter Goss, a former Florida congressman, complained publicly that the new law had "a huge amount of ambiguity in it," creating confusion about his relationship with John Negroponte, Bush's nominee to the new post of national director of intelligence, and with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

Negroponte, if confirmed by the Senate, would have sweeping authority over 15 intelligence agencies.

White House aides said Bush's visit had been planned before Goss' remarks, delivered in a speech on Wednesday in Simi Valley, Calif. However, the CIA tour was added to Bush's public schedule only late Wednesday.

Out of earshot of reporters, Bush spoke to a large assembly of CIA employees, drawing cheers. He also received a private intelligence briefing.

In his remarks to reporters, Bush reiterated that the hunt goes on for Osama bin Laden, the terrorist blamed for the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

"We spend every day gathering information to locate Osama bin Laden and Zawahri and obviously people like Zarqawi," Bush said. Ayman al-Zawahri is bin Laden's top deputy. Musab al-Zarqawi is the top al-Qaida figure in Iraq.

"One of the reasons I came out here was to remind people that we've had great successes" in running down other al-Qaida leaders. "But there is more work to be done. ... It's a matter of time before we bring those people to justice."

With Goss at this side, Bush said he had discussed the jurisdiction issue with the CIA director "because I don't want there to be any interruption of intelligence coming to the White House, and there won't be."

He said Goss comes to the White House each morning to brief him personally on the latest intelligence developments, "and that, of course, will go on." Furthermore, Bush said, "we don't even have Ambassador Negroponte confirmed yet. In other words, it's hard to implement reforms without somebody being the reformer. And so, the process is ongoing."

Negroponte's last posting was as ambassador to Iraq.

"One of the purposes of the whole process is to make sure that information flows are smooth and that efforts are coordinated," Bush said. While noting that the CIA would remain "the center of the intelligence community," he said "there's a lot of other intelligence-gathering operations around government."

[Last modified March 4, 2005, 00:57:18]