300 Dollar Wonder Scoops Asia Times

The Asia Times reports on a phenomenon I covered yesterday. From the AT:

Portents: The coming end of the CIA
By Jim Lobe

WASHINGTON - Monday's nomination by US President George W Bush of air force General Michael Hayden to take over the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from the hapless Porter Goss has predictably intensified speculation over what is really going on behind the scenes.

Most analysts see the shifts as the latest battle between the director of national intelligence (DNI), John Negroponte, and Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld in the war over control of the multiple functions of the United States' sprawling, US$40-billion-a-year intelligence community.

[...]

For John Prados, a prominent author on national-security intelligence, it is far too early to predict the outcome, particularly given the gains and momentum built up by the Pentagon largely at the CIA's expense in budgetary and operational areas during Goss's tenure.

"It's always been Rumsfeld versus Negroponte, and Negroponte has not so far demonstrated much ability to rein in Rumsfeld at all," he said. "This could be a victory for Negroponte in the sense that a new director that can breathe life into a fading CIA would re-create an element of resistance against the Pentagon's aggrandizement. That could improve his situation vis-a-vis Rumsfeld."

At the same time, he said, the latest developments could hasten the CIA's cannibalization by accelerating the migration of its analytical resources to the DNI and its increasingly nominal control over operations to the Pentagon.

Not shocking, I know. Not even 'new' news. But I beat them to it. For that matter, I beat Andrew Sullivan to the term 'Christianist.' Did I get any compensation for either contribution ? Not a penny! A blogger's fate, I suppose, is to do the leg work for 'journalists' for nary a 'thanks.' Except when they give you the print version of the finger.

Apologies for the slow morning, I was :gasp: working.