Inside the Ring

THE WASHINGTON TIMES ^ | October 10, 2003 | By Bill Gertz and Rowan Scarborough

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Korea envoy needed Former Secretary of State George Shultz said the Bush administration should appoint a high-ranking special envoy for North Korea.

In an interview at his office at the Hoover Institution, Mr. Shultz said the nuclear crisis with Pyongyang, which a year ago revealed a covert uranium-enrichment program for arms, needs a specialist to address the problem. He said it would be similar to what former Defense Secretary William Perry did for the Clinton administration after leaving the Pentagon.

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Sobering read here WRT Congress visit to SWA.

Also Sec Def's first choice for "commando ally" did not go through, Cambone did not make it.

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What didn't he make and what happened?

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The news has been that
Rumsfeld was creating a special position for Cambone, integrating Under Sec Intell and Asst Sec Special ops to give Cambone power to transform Spec ops.
But a CIA op was appointed. Pretty heavy politics, political capital being spent.



http://washingtontimes.com/national/20030918-103524-9087r.htm
Cambone visits Socom
Stephen Cambone, the undersecretary of defense for intelligence, visited the U.S. Special Operations Command in Florida, where he was greeted by some wary members of the commando community.
Mr. Cambone, we are told, spoke to a group of commandos and told them that the Pentagon is lacking focus on the issue of special operations and he is going to fix the problems.
Mr. Cambone has been viewed with concern by some of the Special Forces troops because of a remark he made several months ago to a Pentagon official that he would like to see Socom restructured.
According to defense officials, Mr. Cambone views himself as eventually becoming the "undersecretary of operations" at the Pentagon, a position he envisions will combine both intelligence and special operations authority.
Congress created the post of assistant secretary of defense for special operations in 1987. Any power grab of that position by Mr. Cambone would require congressional approval.
A Pentagon spokesman did not return telephone calls seeking comment on the Cambone visit. A Socom spokesman confirmed that the visit took place but declined to comment.