20 February 2007
Bush Calls for Flexibility in Human Intelligence Gathering
Speaks at McConnell's swearing-in as director of national intelligence
Washington -- President Bush, presiding over the swearing-in of retired Vice Admiral Mike McConnell as the new director of national intelligence, called for more flexibility in the use of personnel with foreign backgrounds to gather critical intelligence in the war on terrorism.
"In this time of war -- and we are a nation at war -- the president and his national security team must have the best intelligence about the plans and purpose of the enemy," Bush said during the ceremony at Bolling Air Force Base February 20.
To that end, Bush said he asked McConnell to ensure that U.S. intelligence agencies "focus on bringing in more Americans with language skills and cultural awareness necessary to meet the threats of this new century."
McConnell responded by pledging, "We will revamp security and work force policies of the past. Our nation requires that we have the best and brightest of our citizens in our ranks to fight a very different enemy" from that encountered in World War II or even the Cold War.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates, CIA Director Michael Hayden and FBI Director Bob Mueller also attended the ceremony.
Before retiring from the Navy to work in the private sector, McConnell served as director of intelligence for the Joint Chiefs of Staff during Operation Desert Storm, and later as the director of the National Security Agency.
Bush said McConnell will make a good overall director of intelligence because "he understands that the enemy uses the tools of our modern economy -- from rapid transportation, to instant communications, to global finance -- to spread their extremist ideology, and facilitate new attacks."
As the new head of the U.S. government's 16 intelligence agencies, McConnell said he gladly accepted the challenge of strengthening and reforming the intelligence community.
Especially important now, he said, is that "the rise of globalization, rapid transportation, global connectivity, and ever advancing technology -- have made us more vulnerable to threats such as terrorism."
McConnell said, "The time needed to develop a terrorist plot, communicated around the globe, and put it into motion has been drastically reduced. The time line is no longer a calendar, it is a watch."
With that in mind, McConnell pledged "to focus on our people, our policies, our collection, our technology, our analysis, and our operational results in a way that provides accountability to you [President Bush], the Congress, and the American people."
Old policies "have hampered some common sense reforms, such as hiring first and second generation Americans who possess native language skills, cultural insights, and a keen understanding of the threats we face."
But now, "We must create an acquisition environment in this community that will continue to make American intelligence the most effective in the world," he concluded.
The full transcript of Bush's remarks is available on the White House Web site.
(USINFO is produced by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
