The Hoestra letter is further proof of just how estranged is the relationship between the Bush administration and the CIA.

Dissident CIA faction 'exposed'

A HIGH-ranking Republican congressman has exposed what he sees as a dissident faction within the CIA that he says "intentionally undermined" the policies of US President George W Bush. Rumours about the existence of such a group have circulated in the US capital for a long time, but the comments by Representative Peter Hoekstra, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, marks the first time they were confirmed by an official with intimate knowledge of the intelligence community.

"In fact, I have been long concerned that a strong and well-positioned group within the agency intentionally undermined the administration and its policies," Mr Hoekstra wrote in a letter to Mr Bush dated May 18, and made public today.

The CIA has refused to comment on the charge.

Rep.Hoekstra's Letter to Bush

Capitol Hill Blue's Doug Thompson has some interesting comments:

What's important here is that more and more members of the intelligence community are breaking with tradition and taking their grievances to Capitol Hill because they cannot stand the constant abuse of the Constitution by the Bush Administration.

"I did not join the firm to spy on my fellow countrymen," says former CIA operative Jonathan Westlake, who left the agency in disgust.

"These people signed up to serve their country," says political scientist George Harleigh, who worked in the Nixon and Reagan White Houses and has many contacts within the intelligence community. "They see the programs authorized by the President as service not to the county but to the corrupt ideals of one man. Those are often orders that people of conscience cannot follow."