CIA chief resigns

CIA Director Porter Goss resigned unexpectedly Friday, leaving behind a spy agency still battling to recover from the scars of intelligence failures before America's worst terrorist attack and faulty information that formed the U.S. rationale for invading Iraq.

Photo: CIA chief resigns

It was the latest move in a second-term shake-up of President George W. Bush's team.

Making the announcement from the Oval Office, Bush called Goss' tenure a period of transition for the agency.

"He has led ably," Bush said, Goss at his side. "He has a five-year plan to increase the analysts and operatives."

The president did not name a successor.

The former congressman from Florida, head of the House Intelligence Committee and CIA agent had been at the helm of the agency only since September 2004.

He came under fire almost immediately, in part because he brought with him several top aides from Congress who were considered highly political by CIA staffers.

He had particularly poor relations with segments of the agency's powerful clandestine service. In a bleak assessment, California Rep. Jane Harman, the Intelligence Committee's top Democrat, recently said, "The CIA is in a free fall," noting that employees with a combined 300 years of experience have left or been pushed out.

The realignment of Bush's team amid the president's sagging poll standings started with the resignation of Andrew Card as chief of staff and his replacement by Joshua Bolten, who had been the budget director.

Officials have done little to discourage speculation that Treasury Secretary John Snow is leaving.

Bush said that Goss had "helped make this country a safer place" and said "we've got to win the war on terror", reports AP.

O.Ch.