CIA Dreads Another Neocon White House

Agency fears McCain administration would extend Bush-era woes
By Gabriel Winant,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 2, 2008 1:07 PM CDT
CIA Dreads Another Neocon White House
John McCain at historic Faneuil Hall with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, and former CIA Director James Woolsey in Boston, Wednesday Dec. 19, 2007. Kissinger and Woolsey endorsed McCain.    (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

The CIA has had a rough run under the Bush White House, and its top brass is worried that a John McCain presidency would be just as bad, reports Mother Jones. In recent years, animosity has defined the relationship between neoconservatives and spies, and McCain’s braintrust is full of neocons perceived as cool to the agency. "McCain would be an absolute disaster," says one ex-spy.

Conservatives accuse the CIA of deliberately interfering with White House goals; McCain himself called the CIA “a rogue organization.” Agents, though, insist that neocons are out to destroy the agency’s independence—“because the CIA tells them things they don’t want to hear,” says one. McCain has diverse advisers and his plans aren’t clear, but the CIA fears neocons “hold the high ground.” (More John McCain stories.)

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