WASHINGTON James Pavitt spent 31 years at the Central Intelligence Agency, the last five as head of the clandestine service. But never, Pavitt said Friday, does he recall anything like "the viciousness and vindictiveness" now playing out in a battle between those aligned with the White House and the CIA.
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The tensions have simmered for years, mostly over Iraq. But in the last few weeks, they have surged into the open in a remarkable way, in a struggle in which both sides believe they have much at stake.
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Already, the contents of classified intelligence estimates about Iraq have been leaked by people sympathetic to the CIA, to the considerable embarrassment of the White House. In response, the White House associated the documents' authors with "pessimists and naysayers," and President George W. Bush initially dismissed one particularly damaging forecast as nothing more than a guess.
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And in newspaper columns in recent days, Republican partisans have variously described what is now afoot as part of an insurgency or vendetta being waged by the CIA against the White House.
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"This is the most serious threat that the CIA has faced in my memory," said a second former senior CIA official.
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But a third former intelligence official was more critical of the CIA. "The agency's role is to tell the administration what it thinks, not to criticize its policies," the official said.
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