Feud led to Goss’ firing (Negroponte, Hayden...)

http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/nationworld/story/5730482p-5129343c.html

Feud led to Goss’ firing
CIA director reportedly disagreed with possible changes


WASHINGTON – As befits the CIA’s former spy chief, Porter Goss’ only public comment on his surprise resignation last week has been that the reasons behind it would have to remain a “mystery.”
But a senior U.S. intelligence official with first-hand knowledge of events says Goss was dismissed as CIA director after the White House became convinced that strong disagreements with his immediate boss, John Negroponte, over changes Goss feared would limit the agency’s scope and influence were beyond resolution.

The dispute, the official said, had been “ongoing for a couple of months” before Goss’ departure. It was Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden, whom President Bush has nominated to fill Goss’ position, who began the critical assault on Goss by complaining of his performance to a CIA civilian oversight body.

Goss, Negroponte and the new White House chief of staff, Josh Bolten, met recently “and came to the conclusion that this is pretty much a place that they weren’t going to get past,” the official said.