LA Times: All out war for power between Negroponte and Rumsfeld

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-ciaassess6may06,0,1094951.story?coll=la-home-headlines


NEWS ANALYSIS
Spy Czar, Rumsfeld in a Turf War
By Doyle McManus and Peter Spiegel, Times Staff Writers
May 6, 2006

WASHINGTON — After a little more than a year in his newly created job, John D. Negroponte, the director of national intelligence, has won an initial battle to establish authority over the vast U.S. intelligence community — Porter J. Goss, who resisted Negroponte's moves to limit the autonomy of the CIA, is gone.

But Negroponte faces a larger and much more difficult challenge: a struggle with Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's Department of Defense, which runs more than 80% of the nation's intelligence budget and is busy expanding its role even further.

Negroponte's job is to coordinate the work of 16 intelligence agencies, including the CIA and the giant National Security Agency — which eavesdrops on international communications — as well as the Energy Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration. The post was created in 2005 in response to charges — made most tellingly by the commission that investigated the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 — that the federal government's intelligence effort was uncoordinated and needed central direction.

When Negroponte took office in April 2005, the veteran diplomat moved quickly to exert his authority over the CIA. He took over the job of giving President Bush his daily intelligence briefing, a task that once allowed CIA directors to bond with the presidents they served. He took a central role in briefing Congress on intelligence issues. He transferred some CIA officers to new joint intelligence centers. And when it appeared that Goss was not fully on board, officials said, Negroponte and his deputy, Air Force Gen. Michael V. Hayden, quietly complained to the White House — apparently contributing to Goss' decision to resign Friday.

Negroponte's job is to coordinate the work of 16 intelligence agencies, including the CIA and the giant National Security Agency — which eavesdrops on international communications — as well as the Energy Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration. The post was created in 2005 in response to charges — made most tellingly by the commission that investigated the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 — that the federal government's intelligence effort was uncoordinated and needed central direction.

it's like watching a Yankees-Mets series, it's fun to watch the bloodshed, but you kinda hope both sides can lose.

But it isn't taking place in Afghanistan.

blow up in the faces of the bush regime. Negropontes' job is NOT to coordinate the various intelligence agencies, it's to concentrate power for the bush regime so they can maneuver these agencies to do their bidding. There are too many true patriots within these agencies and they're not going to stand idly by while this most criminal of regimes dismantles everything they've worked toward for the past 50 years. It's already starting, we can plainly see that but I think the best, or worst depending on your POV is yet to come. These good men and women will not go gently into that horrible bush night. At least, I hope for the sake of our country they don't!

Let's hope the casualty count is not minor.

You gotta hand it to Rumsfailed. After all, he's an old man, I believe 75. That's pretty old to be involved in turf wars with a man equally corrupt and power-hungry as Old Don.

Poor Don is overwhelmed, though. I wrote in another post that he's currently fighting about 4 battles. Add one more log to the fire:

1) 2 battles, 1 in Iraq and Afghanistan. They are both going poorly. ~~See today's news**
2) Rumsfailed is battling the retired generals. They seem to feel he's not doing a good job; he's in fact arrogant and incompetent.
3) Rumsfailed is battling the American public which is constantly attacking him. See news about "Atlanta, 5/4, Hecklers assail Rumsfailed, he's caught in lie"
4) He is locked in a battle against the Truth. Yes, His Lies against the Truth. The Truth always gets smacked in his face, and he always has to fight back saying, "I told the truth", "I always tell the facts".
5) And now in addition to all that, he's battling against NegroPonte for complete control of everything.

* * * * *

Does anybody really believe he'll win any of these battles?

it was his use of puppets during the briefing that won the president over.

When Negroponte took office in April 2005, the veteran diplomat moved quickly to exert his authority over the CIA. He took over the job of giving President Bush his daily intelligence briefing, a task that once allowed CIA directors to bond with the presidents they served.