Meet the New Boss- Same as the Old Boss

More Good News in The New York Pravda:

John D. Negroponte, the new director of national intelligence, has provided the first concrete signs of his plans for reinventing American intelligence operations, naming four senior lieutenants to fill newly created posts.

Under Mr. Negroponte and his principal deputy, Gen. Michael V. Hayden, the four appointees will have broad power to oversee functions carried out by 15 intelligence agencies whose operations have until now been loosely coordinated...

Surely you remember General Hayden. He was a head at the National Security Agency in 2001.

...It has been confirmed that definite prior warnings were given to the United States by Britain, Egypt, France, Germany, Argentina, Jordan and Russia. But what’s most intriguing is that even the accused Taliban got a whiff that something was up, and an aid to the former Taliban foreign minister has revealed to the BBC (Sept.2002) that he approached both the American consulate in Pakistan and the United Nations. American officials have confirmed it, but say they didn’t take it seriously. Then we have claims and counterclaims of numerous American officials, even Congressmen who claimed some received warnings from higher levels not to fly on Sept.11. As for the prime accused, Osama bin Laden, one has to bear in mind that he had little privacy running Al Qaeda, since he used electronic communication which enabled eavesdropping. What remains largely overshadowed is the eavesdropping capability of the United States. The Highly secretive National Security agency (NSA) is primarily associated with electronic eavesdropping. Although its headquarters Crypto City is not found on any map, it would be one of the largest municipalities in Maryland with an electrical consumption equalling that of Annapolis and employing more personnel than the FBI and CIA combined while its four billion dollar budget puts it in league with industry giants like the top 50 of fortune 500 companies e.g. Hewlett Packard. The headquarters is home to some of the most powerful thinking machines on the planet and houses more classified material than the CIA, the Pentagon, the FBI and the State Department combined together. Eavesdropping conducted from its own satellites on fax, email and telephone to intelligence collected from eavesdropping allies are all brought together by a software package codenamed Echelon in which a cleared NSA operative can type his query (keyword, telephone number) and get results search engine style. Since most digital and analogue communications go through INTELSAT satellites which are the main targets of eavesdropping, virtually all phone fax or email communication (including American) are susceptible to NSA eavesdropping ; and so are Al Qaeda and Bin Laden. James Bamford’s Body Of Secrets was first published in May 2001 carried an eerie paragraph detailing electronic surveillance on Bin Laden :

According to information obtained for Body Of Secrets, NSA regularly listens to unencrypted calls from suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden, in hiding inAfghanistan. Bin Laden uses a portable INMARSAT phone that transmits and receives calls over spacecraft. Bin Laden is aware that the United States can eavesdrop on his communications, but does not seem to care. To impress cleared visitors, NSA analysts occasionally play audiotapes of Bin Laden talking to his mother over an INMARSAT connection

With the intelligence to pinpoint Bin Laden (and probably tonnes of never to be seen classified intelligence) a valid question can be asked as exactly what intelligence the NSA had and why wait till Sept. 11th? Again, was Binladen really involved or did he carry out his plans while circumventing the electronic surveillance net he was caught in? NSA director Michael V. Hayden would later state that they had more than 30 attack warnings ...

It seems like General Hayden knows when it's impolitic to make embarassing connections. If General Hayden saw fit to cover up for Osama before and after 9-11, he'll certainly take care of any future diplomatic situations. Don't you feel better the old head of the NSA who worked so diligently is back in the saddle?

But back to the column in the Pravda.

Three of the appointees will be deputy directors. They are Patrick F. Kennedy, a former United States ambassador to the United Nations for management and reform, who will oversee management; Mary Margaret Graham, a 27-year veteran of the Central Intelligence Agency's clandestine service and most recently chief of its counterintelligence operations, who will oversee collection; and Thomas Fingar, the current head of the State Department's intelligence branch, who will oversee analysis and also become chairman of the National Intelligence Council.

The fourth of those chosen, David R. Shedd, a longtime C.I.A. official who is currently senior director for intelligence programs and reform at the National Security Council, will become chief of staff and associate director, overseeing a new 24-hour-watch office that is being established at an annex in suburban Virginia, along with other activities.

None of the new appointees require Senate confirmation...

They're remarkable, our perpetual unelected government servants that persevere to get promoted despite silly details like performance.

It's so much easier to reinvent National Security when you eliminate the people that don't raise a difficult fuss.

But who knows? Maybe they performed just fine for their real bosses.