Negroponte: A Neo-fascist's Progress

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April 13, 2006

http://www.startribune.com/587/story/369997.html

WASHINGTON (AP) - In one year, the Office of the National Intelligence Director has grown from a staff of zero to 1,500, raising concern about whether it is becoming another clumsy bureaucracy as it tries to avoid the intelligence lapses of 9/11 and Iraq.

The reports from the field about the impact of the nation's first intelligence chief, John Negroponte, aren't flattering. Turf wars. A bloated management structure. Low morale at the CIA.

Even Negroponte's allies concede his organization is still trying to get up to speed as it deals with the hottest spots around the globe. Just this week, Iran announced it had begun enriching uranium.

Yet 10 senior intelligence officials sought to dispel the negative narrative Thursday in a rare on-the-record, two-hour session with reporters to discuss the first 12 months since Negroponte was sworn in.

His top deputy, Gen. Michael Hayden, pronounced the enterprise healthy . . . more