A Man Who's Not Getting Much Sleep
John Negroponte, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and to Iraq, has been the director of national intelligence for 18 months. He recently sat down with U.S. News. Excerpts:
On what keeps him up at night: It's the threats you don't know about. There have been a number of important plots disrupted, so that's good. I do believe that if you do the balance sheet since 9/11, we are today more vigilant, we're better prepared, our intelligence has improved. But is there activity out there that we just simply don't know about? With more of these homegrown terrorist activities, the risk of that kind of activity growing is there.
On the war of ideas against terrorists: You've got to deal with the people who are going to set off the bombs and shoot guns. But you also have to look at the root causes. That is a longer-term proposition, and it doesn't only involve us. The longer war on terrorism is going to depend, in large measure, on progress that these societies themselves make in dealing with those issues at home.
On his leadership style: Well, it's collegial. I think it's a bit more like a coach with a team. I certainly don't think applying a two-by-four to these 16 different agencies is the way to go, particularly since some of them belong to other departments. I have certain authorities and not others. Probably the most important authority I've got is the preparation of the budget. If we use the two-by-four, I'm not a believer in advertising. I don't shrink from exercising my authority in a very forthright way if I have to.
On North Korea as a rational actor: Rational in the sense that it seems to be their objective to be recognized as a nuclear power. I think they see that as somehow enhancing their leverage with the international community. Whereas in fact, one of the consequences of them conducting a test is that it could have very destabilizing consequences in the very neighborhood in which they live.
On reports Iran is funneling explosives into Iraq:The intelligence community believes that explosively formed projectiles and technology for that are being supplied by Iran to some of the extremist Shia elements in Iraq. I don't think we have much doubt about that. There seem to be some similarities between these roadside bombs that they're providing that are particularly lethal and the ones that the Hezbollah has used in Lebanon.
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