As Defense Chief in 1992, Cheney Opposed Intelligence Czar

[papau]

Walter Pincus of the Washington Post writes that when Vice President Cheney was Secretary of Defense in 1992, he said he "would recommend a presidential veto of a bill that would have established a director of national intelligence with authority over the Pentagon's intelligence-collection activities." LINK Cheney's views come from two letters released Thursday by Steven Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists. Pincus Notes that when this view was compared to President Bush's support for a national intelligence director, Cheney's spokesman, Kevin Kellums, told the AP that the Vice President would not comment on his dealings with the president "and cautioned against comparing current and historical positions." "At the time, the argument against giving a new intelligence czar control over Pentagon collection operations, particularly satellites that collect electronic signals and imagery, was that it would interfere with war-fighting capabilities," Pincus writes.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43808-2004Aug5.html

As Defense Chief in 1992, Cheney Opposed Intelligence Czar

By Walter Pincus
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, August 6, 2004; Page A09

While he was defense secretary in 1992, Vice President Cheney said he would recommend a presidential veto of a bill that would have established a director of national intelligence with authority over the Pentagon's intelligence-collection activities.

Cheney's view then, spelled out in two letters on March 17, 1992, to the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, differs from the position President Bush took on Monday. Bush said he supports the creation of a single intelligence director, but with no authority over the Defense Department budget pertaining to intelligence.

The Sept. 11 commission and key Republican and Democratic legislators have again recommended establishing a national intelligence director with budgetary authority over the 15 agencies that make up the U.S. intelligence community, including those in the Pentagon. The issue is central to congressional hearings on the commission's recommendations. Pentagon officials are scheduled to testify next week.

In the past, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has opposed giving the current director of central intelligence budget authority over Pentagon intelligence programs, which involve more than 80 percent of the community's estimated $40 billion in spending. About the Sept. 11 panel's proposals, Rumsfeld has said publicly only that they have "merit" and need study.<snip>