Word: casey
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Thus, it came as no surprise when the White House finally announced that Casey, 73, would step down from the post he had held since 1981. To smooth the departure, he was designated a special counselor to the President. Reagan's 1980 campaign manager and close friend will assume the new duties when he feels well enough...
...desire for a smooth transition also seemed to be a factor in choosing the new Director of Central Intelligence: Robert Gates, a 20-year CIA veteran and Casey protege who has been running the agency since Casey was hospitalized. Gates, who at 43 is the youngest Director ever named, is expected to help restore the CIA's public image and repair its damaged relations with Congress. Says former CIA Director Richard Helms: "They wanted...
...doctorate in Russian and Soviet history and in the 1970s spent nearly six years on loan to the National Security Council staff, where he worked for Henry Kissinger and Zbigniew Brzezinski. A career analyst, Gates had no experience in CIA intelligence-gathe ring operations until he became Casey's deputy in April. Although his demeanor is mild, Gates once wrote a blistering critique of the CIA's ill-focused analytical process, and in 1981 Casey picked him to sharpen the agency's information-reporting procedures. The results helped to restore the CIA's reputation after a succession of intelligence failures...
Gates' closeness to Casey has prompted speculation about his role in the Iran-contra scandal. The Senate Intelligence Committee has noted that Gates was aware of the possibility of illegal diversion of Iran-arms profits to the Nicaraguan contras last October, more than a month before Attorney General Edwin Meese discovered the scheme and reported it to the President. When Gates heard of the diversion from a CIA desk officer, the Intelligence Committee reported, he and Casey did nothing more than ask National Security Council Aide Oliver North if their agency was involved. After North assured them...
This will be in sharp contrast to Casey, who resented having to testify on Capitol Hill and was notorious for his mumblings and evasions. An unpublished Intelligence Committee draft on Iran found that Casey was "less than candid" in his testimony just before his hospitalization. Casey's penchant for hiding clandestine operations also led to clashes with Congress. The 1984 mining of Nicaraguan harbors, for instance, was a foreign relations disaster that spurred the legislators to cut off aid to the contras...