No CIA officials will be demoted or fired in the wake of the Aldrich Ames spy case, despite its "horrid" consequences, says agency director James Woolsey.
The consequences of the agency's failings fell hardest on foreign agents who, Woolsey says, "in effect, were murdered by Ames."
The long-awaited disciplinary action: reprimands to 11 current and former agency officials, including the CIA's powerful third-ranking officer, Deputy Director for Operations Hugh "Ted" Price.
"The public and Congress is going to demand more," says Allan Goodman, associate dean of Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service. "It calls into major question the degree to which the agency is capable of policing itself."
Congressional reaction:
-- "It's far from adequate," said Sen. Dennis DeConcini, D-Ariz., chairman of the Senate intelligence committee, who had recommended demotions or firings for some.
-- Rep. Dan Glickman, D-Kan., chairman of the House intelligence committee, says he would have preferred stronger action but the most culpable officials have probably already retired.
"While I'd like to see heads roll, I'd like to make sure the right heads roll," he says.
Only five of those reprimanded are still at the CIA; one is about to retire. Those who remain will be penalized for periods of 2-4 years, including no promotions or performance awards in that time.
The only one publicly named was Price, a CIA veteran who's described as bright and innovative. Price, who is in charge of the branch that handles foreign spies, served for 10 months in 1990 as Ames' boss in the CIA's counterintelligence section.
"I find him a man of great ability," Woolsey said, explaining his decision not to take stronger action against Price.
A CIA inspector general's report found that about "three dozen" U.S. intelligence operations were compromised by Ames, leading to at least 10 agents being killed.
The report found no willful misconduct or gross negligence by CIA personnel.
But it includes a litany of negligent acts by Ames' superiors - what Woolsey called "serious and sustained inattention" to often blatant warning signs about Ames.
Among indications: an alcohol problem so severe that Ames fell down drunk in a gutter while on assignment in Rome in the late 1980s and had to be rescued by Italian police.
Nevertheless, Ames thrived at the agency - including appointment to a sensitive CIA board overseeing promotions even though he ranked third-to-last out of 200 officers.
While on the panel, Ames had access to officers' files, allowing him to enlarge his espionage efforts.
Many CIA staffers, worried over congressional demands for firings or demotions, breathed a sigh of relief after Woolsey's announcement.
"I was afraid (Woolsey) would succumb to pressure from Congress to be more drastic," says David Whipple, a former CIA station chief and now director of the 2,100-member Association of Former Intelligence Officers. "Morale would have suffered intensely."
But the heat is far from over for the CIA.
Already, Congress is forming a special commission to study and possibly restructure the beleaguered agency.
Woolsey says the Ames case "represents a systemic failure of the CIA . . . a failure in management accountability, in judgment, in vigilance."
But he insists he will not reward Ames' crimes and undermine the agency by conducting a "witch hunt."
