Negroponte and the escalation of death

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/IA11Ak03.html

As part of a massive staff shakeup of US President George W Bush's Iraq team last week, it was announced that John Negroponte, the current national intelligence director who also conveniently served as the ambassador to Iraq from June 2004 to April 2005, is being tapped as the new deputy secretary of state.

It is a move taking place at roughly the same time when Bush is to announce his new strategy for Iraq, which most expect entails an escalation of as many as 20,000 troops, if not more. Bush has already begun preparations to replace ranking military commanders with those who will be more supportive of his escalation.

The top US commander in the Middle East, General John Abizaid, will likely be replaced by Admiral William Fallon, currently the top US commander in the Pacific. General George Casey, currently the chief general in Iraq, will be replaced by army Lieutenant-General David Petraeus, who headed the failed effort to train Iraqi security forces. Thus those not in favor of adding more fuel to the raging fire are to be replaced with those who are happy to oblige. snip

Second and more immediate, the transfer of Negroponte into the State Department comes conveniently just as the announcement of the escalation of troops in Iraq is planned. Bush needs someone with experience in managing escalations and he needs look no further than this man. It is Negroponte who oversaw the implementation of the "Salvador Option" in Iraq, as it was referred to in Newsweek in January 2005.

Under the "Salvador Option", Negroponte had assistance from his colleague from his days in Central America during the 1980s, retired Colonel James Steele. Steel, whose title in Baghdad was counselor for Iraqi security forces, supervised the selection and training of members of the Badr Organization and Mehdi Army, the two largest Shi'ite militias in Iraq, to target the leadership and support networks of a primarily Sunni resistance.

[KoKo]

1. and a mention of Iran attack from the article.....

The timing of this move is what should raise eyebrows, and for two main reasons. First, Negroponte is relieved of his job of intelligence director as the drums of war continue to be pounded by the diehard neo-conservatives, and Negroponte wasn't playing quite loud enough to the Tehran tune. McConnell may well be able to carry a louder tune for his pal Cheney, which may come in the form of a sonata of manufactured intelligence to justify an attack on Iran, which is important as time is growing short for Cheney and company.