CIA chief 'caught on film'
2004-08-13 08:16
New York - Porter Goss, the man chosen to head the CIA, believes he is unqualified to work for the agency, according to an interview he gave in March for Michael Moore's Bush-bashing film Fahrenheit 9/11.
The interview never made the documentary's final cut, but following the 65-year-old Florida Republican's nomination to the top US spy post, Moore has released the relevant footage and a transcript.
"I couldn't get a job with CIA today. I am not qualified," Goss says in the interview.
"I don't have the language skills. I, you know, my language skills were romance languages and stuff. We're looking for Arabists today. I don't have the cultural background probably.
"And I certainly don't have the technical skills, uh, as my children remind me every day, 'Dad you got to get better on your computer.' Uh, so, the things that you need to have, I don't have," he said.
The transcript and video excerpt were posted on the filmmaker's website, www.michaelmoore.com.
The interview is an obvious embarrassment for Goss, who is already expected to get a rough confirmation ride in the US Senate.
Republicans have called for a speedy nomination process, hoping to see Goss officially installed by early September.
Goss, who officially resigned on Wednesday as chairman of the powerful House of Representatives intelligence committee, was an American spy in Latin America in the 1960s during one of the hottest periods of the Cold War.