>February 17, 2005
>Bush Names Iraq Envoy as Nation's 1st Intelligence Chief
>By MARK GLASSMAN
>
>President Bush today named John D. Negroponte as the
>director of national intelligence, a new position thatwill
>oversee the country's 15 intelligence agencies and exercise
>broad control over a multi-billion dollar intelligence
>budget.
>
>"John's nomination comes in an historic moment for our
>intelligence services," Mr. Bush said in a ceremony at the
>White House. He said intelligence was now "the first line
>of defense" in the war on terrorism.
>
>"John brings a unique set of skills to these challenges,"
>Mr. Bush said in a ceremony at the White House.
>
>Mr. Negroponte said he was honored to be nominated by the
>President and called the job "the most challenging
>assignment I have undertaken in more than 40 years of
>government service."
>
>Mr. Negroponte, 65, has been serving as the United States
>ambassador to Iraq since last summer, a tenure Mr. Bush
>called an "incalculable advantage for an intelligence
>chief." Mr. Negroponte had re-established that position
>shortly before the transfer of sovereignty to an interim
>Iraqi government in late June.
>
>Before that, Mr. Negroponte had served as United States
>ambassador to the United Nations.
>
>Creating the new position was one of the central
>recommendations of the 9/11 Commission that finished its
>work last summer. The intelligence community had been under
>fire since the Sept. 11th, 2001, terrorist attacks for poor
>communication and organization, and the commission said it
>believed that centralizing control of the myriad
>intelligence agencies would create a more effective system.
>
>But the position became a poliltically charged last fall
>amid reports that the Pentagon and Defense Secretary Donald
>H. Rumsfeld opposed placing too much control over Pentagon
>intelligence and budgetary matters in the hands of the new
>director.
>
>Mr. Bush's decision comes amid some criticism of a
>two-month delay since the position was created when he
>signed a bill revamping national intelligence on Dec. 17.
>Senator John D. Rockefeller IV of West Virginia, the
>ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee,
>called the wait "unacceptable," at a hearing on Wednesday,
>accusing the White House of "foot-dragging."
>
>At least three potential nominees approached by the White
>House have turned the job down, officials have said.
>
>Lt. General Michael Hayden of the Air Force will serve as
>Mr. Negroponte's deputy director, Mr. Bush said. Mr.
>Hayden, who was said to have been on the White House's
>short list of nominees for the head position, is the
>director of the National Security Agency and the chief of
>the Central Security Service.
>
>
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