This Is Weird
CNN is carrying an AP report, U.S. intelligence chief to switch jobs, that says National Intelligence Director John Negroponte will resign to become deputy secretary of state, the number two position at the State Department, a position that has been vacant for months.
Rumor has it that retired Admiral Mike McConnell, who was the director of NSA from 1992 to 1996 will be appointed NID.
What, they couldn’t find anyone in the State Department willing to work for Rice? Are they running out of Kool-Aid drinkers?
Update: J.M. [Mike] McConnell is a retired Vice Admiral [three stars] which is another wrinkle in this mess, and, yes, that makes a difference among flag officers, whether active duty or retired.
2 comments
“Mike.” Thank goodness it’s “Mike.” I don’t know anything about him other than what you just stated, but at first, my old eyes misread the name as “Mitch McConnell,” who would truly have been a new low, even for Dubya, in purely political appointments.
That said, the sooner Negroponte can retire from public “service” altogether, the better I’ll feel.
Do you think perhaps he dared to disagree with Condi’s “husband”?
Except it puts all of the intelligence agencies under the control of current and retired military officers, who all tend to think alike. This is not good for the “community”. Diversity and conflict are good for the development of intelligence. The final product should reflect a consensus of opinions that have been modified by interaction, not an acceptance of a predetermined “party line”.
Negroponte is a nasty piece of work who has never really been a diplomat in the classic sense, but more of a CIA station chief.