Bush Signs Bill Creating CIA Oversight Post : Legislation: Congress gets its way over a reluctant President. The need for an independent inspector arose during the Iran-Contra inquiry.

President Bush on Thursday reluctantly signed into law a bill creating a new independent inspector general within the CIA, two years after such a move was called for by congressional investigators of the Iran-Contra affair.

Creation of the new inspector general’s office, similar to the oversight posts at other government agencies that review federal programs and seek to ferret out abuses, was part of a broader bill authorizing U.S. intelligence activities for the coming year.

While the precise spending authorized by the bill is secret, it reportedly involves between $25 billion and $30 billion for intelligence collection and analysis, upgraded spy satellites and other hardware, and covert operations overseas.

In a statement, Bush said the new inspector general post “could impair the ability of the CIA to collect vitally needed intelligence information by creating a perception that confidentiality cannot be guaranteed.”

To secure cooperation, the CIA “must be able to assure foreign individuals and organizations that their identities, the fact of their association with the United States, and the information they provide are not subject to exposure,” said Bush, a former CIA director.

CIA Director William H. Webster said Wednesday that while the provision could damage confidence of foreign intelligence services in the agency’s ability to keep secrets, he would seek to rebuild safeguards against compromising intelligence sources and methods.

Bush said his objections were mitigated by a provision that would let the CIA director kill any inspector general’s investigation he believed might compromise national security interests.

The new inspector general would be appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, and the auditor’s reports would be available to the House and Senate committees that oversee U.S. intelligence.

Currently, the agency’s inspector general is appointed by the CIA director and reports only to him. That arrangement has caused friction with the House Intelligence Committee, which has been denied access to some reports.

Congressional investigators who probed the Iran-Contra scandal said the agency’s inspector general lacked independence and did not have “the manpower, resources or tenacity” to uncover arms-for-hostages transactions or the diversion of profits to Nicaragua’s rebels.