Here Today. Tomorrow?
No matter who wins the presidential election on Nov. 4, U.S. spy agencies worry that the intelligence community could be big losers, with heads rolling either way. Sources close to both campaigns did little to assuage those fears, suggesting that top intel officials
—including CIA Director Michael Hayden—are likely to be replaced and that the United States' new intel apparatus, created in response to 9/11 failures, still has a long way to go.
Sen. John McCain favors more dramatic change than Sen. Barack Obama. Several government officials, who asked for anonymity when discussing sensitive matters, said they expect a President McCain would purge not only Hayden but also his two top deputies. McCain's plans for the rest of the agency could be even more sweeping. According to little-noticed comments he made last year, McCain has mulled effectively dismantling the CIA and replacing it with a new covert-ops outfit patterned on the OSS of World War II: "A small, nimble, can-do organization," he said, that "could take risks that our bureaucracies today rarely consider taking." Campaign spokesman Brian Rogers told NEWSWEEK that McCain "hasn't talked about personnel at all, and has not gone into details" about his CIA plans.
An Obama spokeswoman declined to comment on his plans. But sources close to the campaign's transition apparatus, who also asked for anonymity, said Obama would prefer to tweak, rather than remake, the intel system. Obama is being advised on intel matters by former senior CIA officials, at least one of whom, John Brennan, is rumored as a possible future CIA director; for intel czar, Obama has been looking at former four-star military officers. Hayden, himself a retired four-star general, would consider staying on if asked, though some Democrats believe he was a too-vigorous defender of controversial Bush administration policies.
Inside the various agencies, trepidation is widespread. "The last thing American intelligence needs is another shake-up," one of the anonymous officials said, noting that the previous reshuffle "is barely two years old. It's still shaking out, and it can be made to work better than it does now--without using a chain saw."
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Mark Hosenball joined Newsweek as an investigative correspondent in November 1993, covering a range of issues for the National Affairs department. Most recently, he has written and reported numerous stories on terrorism and the Sept. 11 attacks on America. He has also covered campaign finance, the Monica Lewinsky controversy, the death of Princess Diana, Whitewater, the crashes of EgyptAir flight 990 and TWA flight 800, as well as related air safety issues.
Hosenball came to Newsweek from "Dateline NBC," where he worked as an investigative producer. He also worked extensively as a print journalist, writing for a number of British and American publications, including the London Sunday Times, the London Evening Standard, Time Out, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and The New Republic. In addition, he has done commentaries for American Public Radio.
Hosenball has been honored with a number of prestigious awards. Most recently, along with a team of Newsweek correspondents, he was awarded the Overseas Press Club's most prestigious honor, the 2002 Ed Cunningham Memorial Award for best magazine reporting from abroad for Newsweek's coverage of the war on terror. His reporting and that of his colleagues earned Newsweek the prestigious National Magazine Award for General Excellence in 2002 for its coverage of September 11 and its aftermath. And a story he co-authored was highlighted in a citation Newsweek received by the White House Correspondents' Association when it awarded the magazine the 2002 Edgar A. Poe Award for "excellence on a story of national or regional importance. "Newsweek's September 11 coverage started long before the attacks. An article in the magazine's February 19, 2001 issue warned with chilling accuracy: 'The threat posed by (Osama) bin Laden is growing -- and coming ever closer to home."
Hosenball was a contributor to the CANAL + TV documentary, "L'Argent de la Drogue" (Drug Money), which was awarded the "Sept D'Or," the French equivalent of an Emmy. He also contributed to NBC News' coverage of the BCCI scandal, which earned a 1991 Peabody Award.
He attended the University of Pennsylvania and Trinity College in Dublin. He lives in the Washington, D.C. area with his wife and son.
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