Comments on: Bush Nominates Negroponte for Director of National Intelligence

By: Anderson

Anderson — Thu, 17 Feb 2005 23:22:21 +0000

"Never let the facts get in the way"? Come now. Sarah Wildman in TNR, 2001: Midway through a foreign service career that began in the mid-'60s in Vietnam and continued through a stint in Mexico in the '90s, Negroponte served as ambassador to Honduras. It was the early '80s, and the Honduran government was killing and "disappearing" political opponents by the dozens. Most close observers, including some who served within the U.S. embassy, insist America knew about the abuses. And they accuse Negroponte of turning a blind eye. * * * Negroponte still stuck to the party line: "I have never seen any convincing substantiation that they were involved in death-squad-type activities," he told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee during his Mexico confirmation hearings in 1989. The man's qualifications for DNI in the Bush White House are self-evident---this on a day when we have new details of the CIA's murder of an Iraqi prisoner at Abu Ghraib.

By: Dougrc

Dougrc — Thu, 17 Feb 2005 22:26:24 +0000

Heehee, McGehee! Got them right between the eyes. They never let the facts get in the way of a good whine. According to AP, President Bush said that "people who control the money, people who have access to the president generally have a lot of influence. And that's why John Negroponte is going to have a lot of influence. He will set the budgets." The way that you control any bureaucracy, or in this case, multiple bureaucracies, is to make people below you accountable. Judging from the President's comments there will be pressure from above for the agencies to produce solid intel, which will be shared with the other agencies; all of it being filtered through Negroponte's deputy director Lt. Gen. Mike Hayden. At NSA Hayden was known for swinging a big stick and shook up the entrenched bureaucrats there. It should be a good show watching the 15 intelligence agencies compete for budget, being judged by their performance.

By: McGehee

McGehee — Thu, 17 Feb 2005 21:12:25 +0000

This just in: Deprived of their opportunity to blast President Bush for not naming a DNI, left-leaning blog commenters resort to playing the same old cards that have never gotten them any traction before. Will this be the time it actually works?

Stay tuned!

By: Anderson

Anderson — Thu, 17 Feb 2005 20:00:46 +0000

He *does* have experience turning a blind eye to torture & worse, which is a valuable skill for anyone overseeing the CIA these days.

By: Running Scared

Running Scared — Thu, 17 Feb 2005 17:21:14 +0000

Rewards continue for the dishonest and incompetent Negroponte appears to have very little in the way of qualifications for this extremely important position. His "claims to fame" in both his tenure as UN ambassador and occupation honcho in Iraq resulted in dubious "success" at best. So what is the ...

By: SoloD

SoloD — Thu, 17 Feb 2005 16:44:20 +0000

Dave has hit it right on the head. Experience and knowledge alsways take a back seat to loyalty with this adminstration.

By: The Glittering Eye

The Glittering Eye — Thu, 17 Feb 2005 16:34:09 +0000

Negroponte nominated for intelligence chief (UPDATED)
President Bush has nominated John Negroponte as the first Director of National Intelligence: WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush on Thursday named John Negroponte as America's first national intelligence director, congressional sources said Thursday. It...

By: George

George — Thu, 17 Feb 2005 16:25:48 +0000

Negroponte won't have to "[manage] a huge bureaucracy." It's my understanding he'll only have to manage his secretary and perhaps a press spokesman because that will be the extent of his authority.

By: PoliBlog: Politics is the Master Science

PoliBlog: Politics is the Master Science — Thu, 17 Feb 2005 16:04:27 +0000

The Knights Who Say: NID!
Via Reuters: Bush Names Negroponte as New Intelligence ChiefPresident Bush on Thursday nominated John Negroponte, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, to fill the new position of director of national intelligence.

I am mildly surprised by the pick, as he i...

By: Dave Schuler

Dave Schuler — Thu, 17 Feb 2005 15:55:20 +0000

Presumably he's very, very loyal.

By: Russell Newquist

Russell Newquist — Thu, 17 Feb 2005 15:52:30 +0000

I may change my mind upon hearing more, but my gut tells me this is actually a pretty good choice. The biggest challenge the new DNI is going to face has little to do with intelligence and much to do with politics and negotiation - something that Negroponte has a good bit of experience at under the most difficult of circumstances (ie, trying to convince France to support an Iraqi war and then being ambassador to Iraq). I think it's noteworthy that after those two experiences Negroponte calls his new job "the most challenging assignment I have undertaken in more than 40 years of government service."