Goss: "Nothing but the facts, ma'am."

Laura Rozen has the full text of Goss's letter "to the captured enemy troops at Langley." Here's an excerpt:

Since 9/11 everything has changed. The IC and its people have been relentlessly scrutinized and criticized. Intelligence related issues have become the fodder of partisan food fights and turf-power skirmishes. All the while, the demand for our services and products against a ruthless and unconventional enemy has expanded geometrically and we are expected to deliver - instantly. We have reason to be proud of our achievements and we need to be smarter about how we do our work in this “operational climate.”

I want everyone in our workforce to know - I seek to encourage and expect the best from everyone in CIA. Our country demands it, our President needs it, and this institution deserves it. I also intend to clarify beyond doubt the rules of the road. We support the Administration and its policies in our work. As Agency employees we do not identify with, support, or champion opposition to the Administration or its policies. We provide the intelligence as we see it - and let the facts alone speak to the policymaker.

Now, this may just be me, but when George Tenet calls "evidence" of Saddam's "WMD-related activity," or whatever the preznit is calling it these days, a "slam-dunk," that's going a wee bit beyond letting "the facts alone speak to the policymaker." And when that "slam-dunk" is used to justify an invasion of Iraq -- and when you, as a CIA intelligence analyst know both that the evidence is questionable at best, bogus at worst, and that said invasion is a distraction from fighting Islamist terrorism -- than maybe, just maybe, you have a right, no, a duty, to get that word out and let the partisan food fights commence. That's called policy discourse.

Goss is a partisan hack. This memo is evidence (a "slam-dunk," I'd go so far as to say), that his policies at the CIA are bound to lead to even more needless death and destruction both abroad and in this country.

I wonder how he'll root out those who "identify with" the opposition to the Administration's policies. Loyalty oaths? Lie detector tests? Shock therapy? Lobotomies? Cyborgs?

Guess we're in the process of finding out.