Robbing DNI to pay State

ARTICLE: Intelligence Chief Is Shifted to Deputy State Dept. Post, By MARK MAZZETTI, New York Times, January 4, 2007

On Negroponte's shift to State: to me this is desperate cannibalizing of talent that should not be moved. What Negroponte has begun in the IC has the potential to revolutionize everything there, and frankly, that should matter more than this administration's current myopic fixation on Iraq. Bush is neglecting the Long War by focusing too much on this one battle, giving us a presidency more trapped by circumstances than other since Nixon.

Our only hope in this shift (which I do not see correcting any significant imbalance in the correlation of bureaucratic forces on the subject of Iraq: so Condi's got Negroponte, Cheney's still Cheney), is that McConnell's past working relationship with Gates positions him well to keep the pile moving at DNI.

Comments

[gringoman]

Condy Rice is obviously a nice lady, has degrees, chic boots, inspirational background, fine pianist, a Russia Studies academic, a comfort to her President who needs it, a favorite target of liberal racists—-and clearly out of her depth as Secretary of State. She—and the U.S.— need help, if not a replacement. Will seasoned spy guy---and more seasoned diplomat--- John D. Negroponte deliver? Stay tuned.

[Desiree Fox]

Excellent point! I would rather see Negroponte continue with the IC, especially with the open source intelligence initiative.

Oh well.....

[TM Lutas]

The State Department is dysfunctional, profoundly so, and this is not a partisan observation. Nobody's been happy with how it does its job in decades. If the DNI replacement will continue to move the pile in the right direction (and I'll take your word that the replacement will work out well) any assistance in transforming State into something that is remotely functional would be welcome.

[RKKA]

"The State Department is dysfunctional, profoundly so, and this is not a partisan observation."

What is disfunctional is an Interagency process in which one agency, DoD, gets 97% of the resources, and then complains that the other agencies don't do their jobs. Negroponte going to DoS won't change that one bit.