Rumsfeld Denies Intelligence "Power Grab"

Rumsfeld Denies Intelligence 'Power Grab'

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...900953_pf.html

By William Branigin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, May 9, 2006; 5:33 PM

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld today denied that he is engaged in a "power grab" for greater control over intelligence gathering and declared his full support for President Bush's nominee to head the CIA, Air Force Gen. Michael V. Hayden.

However, Rumsfeld acknowledged that he had disagreed two years ago with Hayden, director of the National Security Agency, over a key proposal in efforts to restructure the U.S. intelligence community. Rumsfeld had balked at Hayden's bid to remove the NSA from the aegis of the Defense Department, placing it instead under the new director of national intelligence.

In a Pentagon news conference, Rumsfeld also expressed doubts about the ability of U.S. intelligence to accurately detect Iran's nuclear capabilities and intent. In response to a question, he said faulty U.S. intelligence on Iraq before the 2003 invasion should "give one pause" about assessments of Iran.

Asked about reports that his department is trying to exert greater control over U.S. intelligence operations, a feisty Rumsfeld replied, "The short answer is: No, we're not. The better answer . . . would be that the quality of the debate on this subject is pedestrian and unimpressive."

He denounced media reporting and commentary as being "about theoretical conspiracies" and "theoretical bureaucratic turf fights," adding, "They're all off the mark."

Rumsfeld denied that he has any "issues" with John D. Negroponte, the veteran diplomat who was named by Bush last year to the new post of director of national intelligence. He also insisted he did not have any with Porter J. Goss , who announced his resignation as CIA director Friday, or with his predecessor, George J. Tenet. "Nor will we have with General Hayden, assuming he's confirmed," Rumsfeld said.

"I feel very good about the relationships," he said. "There is no power play taking place in Washington."

The defense secretary said he does not see a problem in having a military officer take over the CIA, noting that military officers, "both in and out of uniform," have served as CIA directors in the past. "And there certainly has never been a stipulation that you should not have someone from the military as director or deputy director," he said.

Asked about opposition from Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-Mich.), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, to putting a military man in charge of the CIA, Rumsfeld said, "The president obviously came to a different conclusion." He said Bush "knows him [Hayden] and has confidence in him. And, clearly, I support the nomination."

He said intelligence collection "isn't, in my view, something that any one entity necessarily ought to be in charge of." But while the government is focused on doing the best it can to gather and analyze intelligence to protect the nation, Rumsfeld complained, "all we read about is: Oh, this bureaucratic fight there, and someone's doing a power grab there and, oh, my goodness, gracious, there's a conspiracy about this."

He asserted, "There isn't anything we're doing in the Department of Defense on intelligence that has not been worked out with the Department of State, that has not been worked out with the White House, that has not been worked out with the Central Intelligence Agency, that has not been worked out with the director of national intelligence."

Rumsfeld added, "It is a collegial and open process, and it is a comfortable process."

He bristled at a question about a reported dispute he had with Hayden in 2004 when the NSA chief testified before Congress that his agency should be moved out of the Defense Department as part of a reorganization of the intelligence community.

"Oh, let's get right down into the minutiae," Rumsfeld said. "Won't that be fun?"

Hayden and James R. Clapper Jr., head of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, told Congress that their organizations, which collect electronic intelligence and analyze imagery, should be under the director of national intelligence for budgets and direction, rather than the defense secretary.

Rumsfeld was unhappy with their views and let them know it, The Washington Post reported Sunday. Soon after the disagreement, Hayden became deputy director of national intelligence under Negroponte.

In today's news briefing, Rumsfeld said Hayden "favored having the NSA move under the DNI during a time when the legislation was being considered and when the president had not made a decision." He said his view was that "the Department of Defense ought to wait and see where the president comes down on that issue. And he eventually came down on the issue that it should stay technically in the Department of Defense, but to have joint responsibilities with the DNI and the secretary of defense with respect to various budget aspects or acquisition aspects." The disagreement, he said, was not "a big deal."

Rumsfeld was also asked if he were confident about U.S. assessments of Iran's nuclear program, given the prewar intelligence failures regarding Iraq.

"It turns out it was wrong, that intelligence. Fair enough," Rumsfeld said. "It's a tough business. It's a difficult thing to be right all the time. And the information was not correct. Does that give one pause? You bet."

He added, referring to Iran, "And you're dealing with a closed society there, so clearly one has to be very careful."