The Banality of Intelligence

Posted on Feb 3, 2006

Washington Post:
John D. Negroponte, the director of national intelligence, outlined global challenges to U.S. national security during his testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee Thursday. Negroponte appeared with the chiefs of the intelligence agencies, including the CIA, FBI and National Security Agency. In this video, Washington Post reporter Walter Pincus shares his perspective on Negroponte’s appearance before the Senate. | video

Excerpts from Pincus:

If I had to make one critique about the new system, it’s to have the new Director of National Intelligence talk for one-and-a-half hours straight, and give in a very slow and—I hate to say ‘ponderous’ way—a review of the world.

The focus and tensions came on what is now the current upfront topic, which is the NSA’s domestic surveillance program, which the Democrats like to [call] spying on Americans, and which Director Negroponte picked up as the administration’s view of it, which is surveillance of terrorist activities—leaving off the part that Americans are involved.

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