Sen Carl Levin
Sen Carl Levin "Accountability"
Sun May 8, 2005 03:12
64.140.159.234
Senator Carl Levin (D-MI): On The Issues
http://levin.senate.gov/issues/index4.cfm?MainIssue=HomelandSecurity&SubIssue=IntelligenceAccountability
INTELLIGENCE REFORM
Senator Levin believes that Congress’s passage of Intelligence Reform legislation represents a victory in many respects for those who think our intelligence services are in need of change. However, he believes that the failure to retain provisions to allow Congress to more effectively carry out its own oversight responsibilities means that victory is only a partial one.
The Congress set out on that road to reform with the goal of creating a strong Director of National Intelligence (DNI) with real budget power and adequate control over intelligence community personnel. Another goal was the creation of a strong National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) with authority to conduct strategic counterterrorism planning and to assign roles and responsibilities for counterterrorism activities. On these points, the Intelligence Reform legislation can be judged a success.
But Senator Levin believes that the creation of a DNI and NCTC will not solve all, or even the most critical problems in our intelligence community. He believes that establishing a strong DNI makes it even more important that Congress enact reforms to ensure intelligence assessments are not influenced by the policy judgments of whatever Administration is in power. A strong DNI must not simply be a stronger “yes man” for a White House. History has too many examples of the disastrous results that occur when intelligence assessments are shaped to support policy goals.
Forty years ago, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara invoked dubious classified intercepts to support passage of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which was used by President Johnson as the legislative foundation for expanding the war against North Vietnam.
Director of Central Intelligence William Casey manipulated intelligence during the Iran-Contra period. The bipartisan Iran-Contra Report concluded that Director Casey “misrepresented or selectively used available intelligence to support the policy he was promoting.”
The intelligence failures before the Iraq War were massive. Intelligence reports dropped nuances, qualifications and caveats; the CIA director called it a “slam-dunk.” Too often, the CIA told the Administration and the American people what it thought the Administration wanted to hear. Notwithstanding the CIA’s claims, the first overall conclusion in the bipartisan report issued by the Senate Intelligence Committee in July stated, “Most of the major key judgments in the Intelligence Community's October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate (NIE), Iraq's Continuing Programs for Weapons of Mass Destruction, either overstated or were not supported by, the underlying intelligence reporting.”
These are life and death issues. For example, evaluating the implications of North Korea’s nuclear program or Iran’s nuclear intentions requires that Congress and the public are confident that intelligence assessments represent the facts, as they are objectively assessed, not shaped to serve the policy goals of a White House.
One way to avoid the politicization of intelligence is to strengthen congressional oversight. The 9-11 Commission itself said, “Of all our recommendations, strengthening congressional oversight may be among the most difficult and important.” The original Senate-passed bill contained important provisions Senator Levin authored to achieve that goal. Unfortunately, White House opposition resulted in most of these being left out of the final bill.
For example, the final bill omits bipartisan Senate-passed language that stated explicitly that intelligence should not be shaped to serve policy goals. It leaves out Senate-passed language providing the NCTC Director authority to testify before Congress without first having to seek permission from the Administration.
The Intelligence Reform bill also omits a Senate-passed provision requiring the DNI to provide Congress timely access to intelligence information. The history of the intelligence community either not answering or slow walking requests for information from Congress is a long one. This stonewalling of Congress is simply unacceptable and a more powerful DNI could make matters worse.
Senator Levin believes that Congress should be proud that the Intelligence Reform legislation accomplishes the important goals of creating a strong DNI and NCTC. But he also believes that until Congress enacts provisions, omitted from the reform bill, to provide the tools necessary to carry out its oversight responsibilities and hold the new, more powerful DNI’s feet to the fire on providing objective intelligence assessments, intelligence reform will remain incomplete.
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Results 1 - 10 of about 408 for Sen Carl Levin Accountability
... attorney, said he hoped another hearing would pursue the question of accountability. ... Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., also once urged the Pentagon to hold higher ...
============================
Air America Radio | The Al Franken Show
... It’s the accountability issue that Byrd talked about that is missing. ... Sen.
Carl Levin (D, MI), Sept. 19, 2002 | Source ...
www.airamericaradio.com/weblogs/alfrankenshow/index.php?/franken/comments/2249/
http://levin.senate.gov/issues/index4.cfm?MainIssue=HomelandSecurity&SubIssue=IntelligenceAccountability
INTELLIGENCE REFORM
Senator Levin believes that Congress’s passage of Intelligence Reform legislation represents a victory in many respects for those who think our intelligence services are in need of change. However, he believes that the failure to retain provisions to allow Congress to more effectively carry out its own oversight responsibilities means that victory is only a partial one.
The Congress set out on that road to reform with the goal of creating a strong Director of National Intelligence (DNI) with real budget power and adequate control over intelligence community personnel. Another goal was the creation of a strong National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) with authority to conduct strategic counterterrorism planning and to assign roles and responsibilities for counterterrorism activities. On these points, the Intelligence Reform legislation can be judged a success.
But Senator Levin believes that the creation of a DNI and NCTC will not solve all, or even the most critical problems in our intelligence community. He believes that establishing a strong DNI makes it even more important that Congress enact reforms to ensure intelligence assessments are not influenced by the policy judgments of whatever Administration is in power. A strong DNI must not simply be a stronger “yes man” for a White House. History has too many examples of the disastrous results that occur when intelligence assessments are shaped to support policy goals.
Forty years ago, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara invoked dubious classified intercepts to support passage of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which was used by President Johnson as the legislative foundation for expanding the war against North Vietnam.
Director of Central Intelligence William Casey manipulated intelligence during the Iran-Contra period. The bipartisan Iran-Contra Report concluded that Director Casey “misrepresented or selectively used available intelligence to support the policy he was promoting.”
The intelligence failures before the Iraq War were massive. Intelligence reports dropped nuances, qualifications and caveats; the CIA director called it a “slam-dunk.” Too often, the CIA told the Administration and the American people what it thought the Administration wanted to hear. Notwithstanding the CIA’s claims, the first overall conclusion in the bipartisan report issued by the Senate Intelligence Committee in July stated, “Most of the major key judgments in the Intelligence Community's October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate (NIE), Iraq's Continuing Programs for Weapons of Mass Destruction, either overstated or were not supported by, the underlying intelligence reporting.”
These are life and death issues. For example, evaluating the implications of North Korea’s nuclear program or Iran’s nuclear intentions requires that Congress and the public are confident that intelligence assessments represent the facts, as they are objectively assessed, not shaped to serve the policy goals of a White House.
One way to avoid the politicization of intelligence is to strengthen congressional oversight. The 9-11 Commission itself said, “Of all our recommendations, strengthening congressional oversight may be among the most difficult and important.” The original Senate-passed bill contained important provisions Senator Levin authored to achieve that goal. Unfortunately, White House opposition resulted in most of these being left out of the final bill.
For example, the final bill omits bipartisan Senate-passed language that stated explicitly that intelligence should not be shaped to serve policy goals. It leaves out Senate-passed language providing the NCTC Director authority to testify before Congress without first having to seek permission from the Administration.
The Intelligence Reform bill also omits a Senate-passed provision requiring the DNI to provide Congress timely access to intelligence information. The history of the intelligence community either not answering or slow walking requests for information from Congress is a long one. This stonewalling of Congress is simply unacceptable and a more powerful DNI could make matters worse.
Senator Levin believes that Congress should be proud that the Intelligence Reform legislation accomplishes the important goals of creating a strong DNI and NCTC. But he also believes that until Congress enacts provisions, omitted from the reform bill, to provide the tools necessary to carry out its oversight responsibilities and hold the new, more powerful DNI’s feet to the fire on providing objective intelligence assessments, intelligence reform will remain incomplete.
=======================
GOOGLE:
Results 1 - 10 of about 408 for Sen Carl Levin Accountability
... attorney, said he hoped another hearing would pursue the question of accountability. ... Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., also once urged the Pentagon to hold higher ...
============================
Air America Radio | The Al Franken Show
... It’s the accountability issue that Byrd talked about that is missing. ... Sen.
Carl Levin (D, MI), Sept. 19, 2002 | Source ...
www.airamericaradio.com/weblogs/alfrankenshow/index.php?/franken/comments/2249/
Carl Levin - US Senator from Michigan
Official Web site of Carl Levin, US Senator from Michigan and Ranking Member on the Senate Armed Services Committee.
http://levin.senate.gov/
Sen. Carl Levin "Accountability"
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THE QUESTION IS:
Sen. Carl Levin "Accountability"
Sun Apr 17, 2005 16:06
64.140.158.39
THE QUESTION IS:
Technically, how and when did John Negroponte become a United States Citizen?
http://www.apfn.org/APFN/NEGROPONTE.HTM
Sen. Carl Levin "Accountability"
GOOGLE:
Results 1 - 10 of about 138 for Sen Carl Levin Accountability
Levin wants answers on intel failures at Negroponte hearing
April 12, 2005, 6:01 AM
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Sen. Carl Levin says he wants answers to U.S. intelligence failures before the Iraq war.
Senators of both major parties seem likely to support President Bush's selection of John Negroponte for national intelligence director, but Levin and other Democrats said they first want to highlight intelligence mistakes made before the Iraq war.
With the Senate Intelligence Committee planning a hearing Tuesday on Negroponte's nomination to the daunting new job, Levin, of Michigan, said he wants assurances that Negroponte would be an objective and independent leader of the 15 spy agencies he would oversee.
"I am interested in mainly the massive intelligence failures of the intelligence community, and whether or not he is going to help correct and address the abysmal failures of accountability and responsibility there," said Levin.
Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan., said he's discussed a number of intelligence issues with Negroponte, such as the need for better analysis, improvements in traditional spying and ways to boost the quality of personnel with pay incentives and scholarships.
"There are a lot of black eyes" at the intelligence agencies, Roberts said. "The intelligence community can get blamed for things, and there are some very egregious mistakes that they have made. ... On the other hand, they have done a lot of things right."
The shortfalls are the reason Negroponte's job was created.
Since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the intelligence community has come under fire for its performance leading up to the suicide hijackings and later, its prewar estimates of the threat posed by Iraq.
The Sept. 11 commission's best-selling report advocated creating a strong national intelligence director to bring the spy community together under one umbrella. About six months later, Congress went along.
Yet significant doubts remain about whether the job, as cast in law, comes with adequate authority to rein in the various agencies trained in eavesdropping, code-breaking and old-fashioned spying.
Just this month, President Bush's commission investigating intelligence shortfalls advised giving the new intelligence director powers to match his responsibilities, warning that the CIA and Defense Department agencies will try to "run around -- or over" him.
Bush has trusted Negroponte with difficult assignments in the past.
He was ambassador to the United Nations when U.S. relations with the world organization were on the decline during the approach to the Iraq invasion. Last summer, Bush sent him to Iraq as ambassador during the middle of the insurgency.
Negroponte has also held official posts in eight countries, including ambassadorships in Honduras, Mexico and the Philippines.
Human rights groups have alleged that Negroponte acquiesced in abuses by Honduran death squads funded and partly trained by the CIA. Negroponte said during his U.N. confirmation hearings that he did not believe death squads were operating there.
While the issue is of concern to some in Congress, others are moving on. "People change a lot in 20 years," Sen. Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia, the top Democrat on the intelligence committee, said in a recent interview.
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... nomination to the daunting new job, Sen. Carl Levin, D-Michigan, said he wants assurances that ... the abysmal failures of accountability and responsibility there ...
John Negroponte says the president needs the 'unvarnished truth' from intelligence agencies.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/04/12/intelligence.chief.ap/
BIO
FULL NAME: John Dimitri Negroponte.
BIRTH DATE: July 21, 1939, in London, England.
EDUCATION: B.A., Yale University, 1960.
EXPERIENCE: Ambassador to Iraq, June 2004-March 2005; ambassador to the United Nations, 2001-2004; executive vice president, McGraw-Hill Cos., 1997-2001; ambassador to the Philippines, 1993-96; ambassador to Mexico, 1989-93; deputy national security adviser, 1987-89; assistant secretary of state, oceans, international environmental, scientific affairs, 1985-1987; ambassador to Honduras, 1981-85; deputy assistant secretary of state, East Asian and Pacific affairs, 1980-81; deputy assistant secretary of state, oceans and fisheries, 1977-79.
FAMILY: Wife, Diana; five children adopted from Honduras.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/04/12/intelligence.chief.ap/
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, said he saw a pattern of "ducking the facts."
"We are making a call now about your judgment. It looks to me that you saw things through an administration-colored lens," Wyden said.
Senators were aware of the challenges Negroponte faces. By showing up to work on the first day, Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kansas, said, Negroponte will be stepping on toes. Roberts said some intelligence professionals need leadership -- and "a kick in the pants" when they aren't sharing information with each other.
The intelligence community's shortfalls are the reason Negroponte's job was created.
Since the September 11 attacks, the intelligence community has come under fire for its performance leading up to the suicide hijackings and later, its prewar estimates of the threat posed by Iraq.
The September 11 commission's best-selling report advocated creating a strong national intelligence director to bring the spy community together under one umbrella. About six months later, Congress went along.
Yet significant doubts remain about whether the job, as cast in law, comes with adequate authority to rein in the various agencies trained in eavesdropping, code-breaking and old-fashioned spying.
Just this month, Bush's commission investigating intelligence shortfalls advised giving the new intelligence director powers to match his responsibilities, warning that the CIA and Defense Department agencies will try to "run around -- or over" him.
Illustrating the breadth of issues that Negroponte faces, West Virginia Sen. Jay Rockefeller, the committee's top Democrat, asked how he'd deal with issues of foreign detainees abused in U.S. custody. Negroponte promised that agencies would be in "full compliance" with the law and added that torture is "illegal and reprehensible."
Almost three hours into the session, a protester briefly interrupted Negroponte to object to U.S. human-rights policy. The demonstrator was quickly removed by Capitol Hill police.
Bush has entrusted Negroponte with difficult assignments in the past.
He was ambassador to the United Nations when U.S. relations with the world organization were on the decline during the approach to the Iraq invasion. Last summer, Bush sent him to Iraq as ambassador.
Negroponte speaks five languages and has held official posts in eight countries, including ambassadorships in Mexico and the Philippines.
=================
THE QUESTION IS:
Technically, how and when did John Negroponte become a United States Citizen?
http://www.apfn.org/APFN/NEGROPONTE.HTM
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