Posted on 01/07/2007 12:35:16 AM PST by TigerLikesRooster
Ex-US spy chief to tackle North Korea, China as Rice's deputy
by David Millikin
Fri Jan 5, 1:51 PM ET
Outgoing US intelligence chief John Negroponte will focus on handling the prickly nuclear standoff with North Korea and delicate US-China ties when he takes over as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's top deputy, a senior US official said.
Negroponte will also help follow through on a soon-to-be-announced policy shift in Iraq as deputy secretary of state, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said, though he stressed that Rice will remain in charge of that tough dossier.
President George W. Bush announced on Friday the nomination of Negroponte, a veteran foreign service officer who has been his top intelligence adviser for less than two years, as the country's number-two diplomat.
Negroponte, 67, must be confirmed in the new post by the Senate, but McCormack predicted quick approval.
"Since he has been through several confirmations in the relatively near past, we hope that this is a relatively speedy confirmation process. It should be," McCormack told reporters.
Before taking over the newly created job of Bush's director of national intelligence in April 2005, Negroponte held five ambassadorial posts -- in Mexico, Honduras, the Philippines, the United Nations and, most recently, Baghdad -- making him one of Washington's most seasoned foreign policy hands.
But such a record also raised questions about why Negroponte would give up a cabinet-level position to become deputy secretary of state, a job that has been vacant for months and deals basically with tasks Rice prefers not to handle.
US newspapers suggested Negroponte wanted to return to his State Department roots, while columnist Al Kamen in The Washington Post referred to "chatter" hinting about a deal in which Rice could give up her job before the end of Bush's term in January 2009, leaving the top spot to her new deputy.
McCormack said Negroponte would have a full plate of portfolios to handle when he moves into the deputy's suite down the hall from Rice's office on the State Department's ornate seventh floor.
With his experience as US envoy in Baghdad and national intelligence chief, Negroponte will be involved in implementing a new strategy for dealing with the violence in Iraq that Bush is due to announce next week, McCormack said.
But he said that Rice would "remain deeply involved in Iraq policy."
Rather, Negroponte is expected to "devote quite a bit of attention to Northeast Asia," McCormack said, referring to drawn-out efforts to convince the erratic communist regime in North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program.
Six-party disarmament negotiations with North Korea resumed last month after a 13-month boycott by Pyongyang and following the regime's first actual test of a nuclear bomb -- an act that sparked UN sanctions.
The talks made no progress and McCormack said they could resume later this month.
Negroponte is also expected to "take an important role" in advancing a US-China strategic dialogue launched by the previous deputy secretary of state, Robert Zoellick, before he resigned in July, McCormack said.
Rice has frequently hailed improved cooperation with China in recent months in dealing with global challenges like the North Korean and Iranian nuclear crises and the catastrophic violence in Sudan's Darfur region.
In what Rice called a "sea change" in Chinese diplomacy, Beijing backed the UN sanctions against North Korea -- long its closest ally -- and voted for lesser measures against Iran over its nuclear program.
Senior US officials said China also played a pivotal role in convincing Sudan -- where Beijing has significant oil interests -- to back down from its refusal to accept UN-led peacekeepers in Darfur.
But Washington remains concerned about China's military buildup and a host of trade-related problems.
With a deputy finally in place, Rice has indicated she will spend much of her time in coming months trying to revive the long-deadlocked Israeli-Arab peace process.
So Bush's low-profile go-to guy is now sent to deal with N. Korea and China. This may not be a good news for both countries.
Ping!
OK, is it just me or is it funny to have someone named "Rice" as an envoy to China?
Do we have an Italian envy named "Spaghetti"? How 'bout a Mexican envoy named "Taco"? I know, how 'bout a Scottish envoy named "Haggis"?
If we send Madeline Albright to Scotland we got the "Hag" part set, at least!
Since they are not prepared to compromise, they will storm out and then blast off another cap up in the hills near Kilchu.
Yes, they are ready and looking out for the best timing. This February or this April? We will see.
Thank you, good information to know.
You forgot "gesseki" in your tagline, as one of the appropriate nickhames for the Dear Leader!
Maybe I should add that, too.:-)
Isn't China getting concerned that N Korea is going to ruin their comming out party (olympics) in 2008?
Well we see more headlines of Chia Pet acting crazy that we see I don't know maybe Dubya wake up in the morning and say to himself
How mess with dicators heads LOL!
COME ON AIT you have remember it has fit
Okay offical Nickname for Kim Jong 11 on FR
Chia Head
Chia Pet
Little Kim
Mini Me
Crazy little misfit
Maddy master
Dear leader
Take a pick everybody has make up nickname on Dear leader LMAO
Don't forget this classic by MAD TV
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Q6CwIHLrp8o
Well I am hearing that China is little concern that wacky leader Chia Pet going screw up Olympics in 2008
They are concern
OMG i seen that monk rack it there is few of Kim Jong 11 show on MAD TV and YOU TUBE you have look for them I think that guy does better impression of the DONALD got his pout down
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