Is This a Job for Mortals? : Clinton nominates retired general for dicey CIA post

Retired Air Force Gen. Michael P. C. Carns earned a solid reputation in his 35 years in uniform as a skilled manager and an innovative thinker. He will need those talents, plus a lot of support from the nation’s political leadership, if he is to make his mark as the head of the CIA, the post to which he has been nominated by President Clinton.

With extensive experience in Washington, Carns knows that this is less than an ideal time to take over as director of Central Intelligence. That assessment may indeed have prompted the several other prominent persons who were reportedly first approached by Clinton to decline the job.

For one thing, the agency itself is said to be deeply demoralized in the wake of the Aldrich Ames spy scandal. For another, the cost of intelligence--estimated at $28 billion a year, about 10% of which goes directly to the CIA--is being increasingly questioned. Are the enormous resources devoted to electronic intelligence and to the separate intelligence branches of all the armed services justified in the post-Cold War era? Is the nation getting full value for its intelligence dollars?

These are some of the things the special presidential commission headed by former Defense Secretary Les Aspin will be examining over the next year and that Congress will certainly be looking at in the interim. Our view remains that in a world where destabilizing regional conflicts rage and impend, where terrorism knows no national boundaries and where covert nuclear proliferation is a growing threat, a strong and effective intelligence arm is vital. But simply spending big bucks doesn’t necessarily ensure that either of those requisites will be met.

To be effective himself, Carns must first of all have full support from and assured access to the President, a man not noted for his deep interest in global or intelligence matters. If that’s denied him, he would be justified in telling Clinton to find someone else. He must also move quickly to assert his authority over the CIA bureaucracy. It’s a formidable order. Carns’ admirers, and he has many in the military and in Washington, are sure he’s up to it. With Senate confirmation likely, he will soon have a chance to prove it.