NYT: Bush to Create New Unit in F.B.I. for Intelligence - Consolidates Negroponte's power

New York Times ^ | June 30, 2005 | DOUGLAS JEHL

[OESY]

President Bush... ordered changes intended to break down old walls between foreign and domestic intelligence activities by creating a new national security division within the Federal Bureau of Investigation that will fall under the overall direction of John D. Negroponte, the new director of national intelligence.

The directive by Mr. Bush is aimed at consolidating the power of Mr. Negroponte, whose authority over the F.B.I. had been ambiguous. It also sets in motion a major restructuring designed to dissolve the barriers that have often kept the Central Intelligence Agency and the F.B.I. at arm's length, and elevates intelligence operations to new prominence within the F.B.I., which has remained firmly oriented toward traditional law enforcement, even since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

General Michael V. Hayden, the deputy director of national intelligence, said the government would take steps to ensure that the changes did not impinge on American civil liberties. But in a briefing for reporters, General Hayden also said that the United States no longer had the luxury of maintaining divisions between its foreign and domestic intelligence structures, because "our enemy does not recognize that distinction."

The White House left it to Mr. Negroponte to carry out the overhaul, which will almost certainly be met with reluctance within the F.B.I. and the 14 other agencies he oversees. Representative Jane Harman, the top Democrat on the House intelligence committee, cautioned... "But this will require a massive culture change within the F.B.I., because the guns and badges and the mind-set of the F.B.I. don't totally fit with the challenges of countering terrorism."

The changes ordered by Mr. Bush are the among the most far-reaching yet taken by the Bush administration and Congress to overhaul an intelligence structure whose deep flaws have been exposed by major failures on terrorism and Iraq....

[OESY]

President Bush speaking today to the National Security Council regarding the reorganization of the intelligence system. Seated at table, clockwise from the president: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice; Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld; Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Treasury Secretary John W. Snow; C.I.A. Director Porter Goss; Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales; F.B.I. Director Robert S. Mueller III; Frances Fragos Townsend, homeland security adviser; Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff; John D. Negroponte, the director of national intelligence; and Vice President Cheney.





Frances Fragos Townsend advises the president on homeland security.

[green iguana]

Oh good - a new layer of bureaucracy embedded in the indecision making process.

[Iron Matron]

Blah, Blah, Blah, Blather, Blather, Blather.

Another new post for another bureaucrat who will not do their jobs..yet love taxpayer money. This is like the laughable "Homeland Security Director".

Lets see some RESULTS OK Mr. President? Every things supposed to be in place..yet our Borders are being infiltrated by Iraqis and Illegal Mexican Gangs, and illegals taking money form our pockets in a thousand different ways.

Big Deal..Another new post.

YaDa, YaDa, YaDa!...

[GOP_1900AD]

All of those old embittered CISPES crones must be really freaking out. Negroponte is their human symbol of Reagan's successful stand against Central American Communism. Oh, and by the way, Hillary is "former" CISPES herself.

[Stellar Dendrite]

My thoughts exactly

[Stellar Dendrite]

How can there be "Homeland Security" when the border is wide open?

Reagan would have changed his mind about giving amnesty after 9/11.....one has to wonder why Bush is so resistant to securing our borders.