Cambios en el equipo de Inteligencia en EE UU

El presidente de EE UU, George W. Bush, ha dado este viernes una serie de pasos para una amplia reestructuración de su equipo de seguridad, dentro de su búsqueda para una nueva estrategia en la guerra en Irak.

El presidente ha propuesto al vicealmirante retirado John Michael McConnell como nuevo director nacional de Inteligencia en sustitución de John D. Negroponte, que se hará cargo de la subsecretaría de Estado. Ambos cambios tendrán que ser aceptados por el Senado en una audiencia de confirmación para hacerse efectivos.

"Cada uno de ellos hará un buen trabajo en sus respectivas posiciones, y es imprescindible que puedan asumir rápidamente sus nuevas responsabilidades", ha afirmado Bush en un breve acto en la Casa Blanca. El director de Inteligencia saliente cuenta con "una amplia experiencia, sentido común y experiencia en Irak y la guerra contra el terrorismo", lo que le convierte en "un candidato soberbio como subsecretario de Estado", ha agregado. McConnell, por su parte, tiene la "experiencia, la inteligencia y el carácter para suceder" a Negroponte al frente de los servicios de inteligencia. (anexo conferencia de prensa en ingles).

Negroponte, que de ser confirmado será el número dos de la secretaria de Estado Condoleezza Rice, ha asegurado que el puesto que se le ofrece es "la oportunidad de toda una vida" para este diplomático de carrera. McConnell ha explicado que, como director de Inteligencia, su propósito será aumentar la capacidad de respuesta, lograr una "mayor penetración de los objetivos" y fomentar la "cohesión" de las distintas agencias de espionaje.

Además, el Pentágono ha confirmado también el relevo de los máximos mandos militares destinados en territorio iraquí, como parte del nuevo plan para Irak que el presidente anunciará la próxima semana. El secretario de Defensa, Robert M. Gates, ha propuesto al general David Petraeus para el cargo de máximo responsable militar en Irak, en sustitución de George Casey, que se convertirá en jefe del Estado Mayor del Ejército estadounidense, cargo ocupado hasta ahora por el general Peter Schoomaker.

Según ha precisado el Pentágono en un comunicado, Gates también ha elegido al almirante William Fallon como sustituto del general John Abizaid al frente del Comando Central de EE UU, que es el que dirige las operaciones en Irak, Afganistán y la región de Oriente Próximo. "Como secretario de Defensa, y como ciudadano, creo firmemente que los generales Peatraeus y Casey, y el almirante Fallon" tienen las cualidades necesarias "para tener éxito en la guerra y proteger a los estadounidenses", ha indicado Gates en un comunicado.

También dentro de la reestructuración del equipo de seguridad, el cambio diplomático más importante ocurrirá en Bagdad, donde el embajador estadounidense, Zalmay Khalilzad, será sustituido por el veterano diplomático Ryan Crocker, actualmente representante en Pakistán. Khalilzad será el candidato que proponga el presidente como nuevo embajador de EE UU ante la ONU, en sustitución de John Bolton.

Además de estos cambios, el mes pasado asumió el nuevo secretario de Defensa Robert Gates y se espera que nombre al teniente general retirado James Clapper como su subsecretario de inteligencia.

• 
  
  ¿Quién es John Michael McConnell?
  De entrada muy cercano al nuevo Secretario de la Defensa Robert M. Gates; Y ambos -Gates y MacConnell- tiene algo en común son gente cercana a George Bush, padre;
  McConnell es para muchos un hombre casi desconocido, cultivado en los pasillos del espionaje estadounidense, aunque pasó más de 25 años como agente de inteligencia y seguridad;
  Llegó a ser la mano derecha del general Colin Powell durante la guerra del Golfo, en 199;
  Entre 1992 y 1996 se desempeñó como director de la Agencia de Seguridad Nacional (NSA);
  Sus críticos dicen que permitió que el Congreso y la Casa Blanca recortaran los fondos de su agencia después de la Guerra Fría, en momentos que el gobierno debiera haberlos incrementado por los desafíos que imponían los teléfonos celulares, la Internet y el cable de fibra óptica. Bajo su supervisión, la NSA fue crucial para ofrecer información de inteligencia sobre la guerra en Bosnia, los envíos de tecnología armamentista a Irak y otros temas importantes de ese momento.
  Despues, McConnell se apartó del gobierno y trabajó cerca de una década para Booz Allen Hamilton, una consultora que ofrecía servicios a la administración pública.
  Si es confirmado en su puesto, McConnell dijo que espera continuar con el trabajo realizado por Negroponte y su equipo, quien se desempeño como el primer director nacional de inteligencia por 20 meses. Negroponte, dejo inacabada la tarea de reforzar el espionaje en un momento en el que las actividades de inteligencia cobran cada vez más importancia. "A diferencia de hace solo una década, las amenazas de hoy y el futuro avanzan cada vez más rápido y a través de fronteras geográficas y de organizaciones", declaró McConnell, parado junto a Bush, Negroponte y Rice.
  

Seguramente será confirmado y tendrá a su mando las 16 agencias de inteligencia, que reúne a todo el mundo a 100 mil estadounidenses y tiene un presupuesto que asciende a 44 mil millones de dólares anuales.
Entre los 16 organismos que forman la complicada trama del espionaje están la CIA, la Agencia Nacional de Seguridad, la Agencia de Inteligencia Geoespacial, los organismos de inteligencia del Pentágono, el Departamento de Estado, el FBI, La DEA, entre otros grupos menos conocidos.

El director de la Agencia Central de Inteligencia (CIA).es e General Michael Hayden, quien fue también director de la Agencia de Seguridad Nacional (NSA) y fue el cerebro del programa "Vigilancia Terrorista", que dio luz verde al espionaje en las conversaciones internacionales y correos electrónicos de ciudadanos estadounidenses y personas de otras nacionalidades en este país que pueden tener vínculos con Al Qaeda.

Conferencia de prensa:

President Bush Nominates John Negroponte as Deputy Secretary of State and Vice Admiral Mike McConnell as Director of National Intelligence
The Roosevelt Room
9:45 A.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: Mr. Vice President, thank you. Madam Secretary, thank you for joining us. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the White House. I am pleased to announce that I intend to nominate Ambassador John Negroponte to be our next Deputy Secretary of State, and Vice Admiral Mike McConnell to be America's next Director of National Intelligence.
Under the leadership of Secretary Rice, the men and women of the State Department are working to expand freedom and defend America's interests around the world. The Deputy Secretary of State is a key role in shaping American foreign policy and in guiding our diplomats deployed around the globe. The Deputy Secretary also helps our nation's chief diplomat manage the State Department, and helps coordinate with other federal agencies so that America speaks to the world with one voice.
I have asked John Negroponte to serve in this vital position at this crucial moment. John Negroponte knows the State Department well. After all, he started there in 1960 as a Foreign Service Officer in the administration of President Eisenhower. In the four-and-a-half decades since, he has served our nation in eight Foreign Service posts, spanning three continents. He served as Deputy National Security Advisor to President Reagan. He represented America at the United Nations. He served as our first ambassador to a free Iraq. And for nearly two years, John has done a superb job as America's first Director of National Intelligence.
John Negroponte's broad experience, sound judgment and expertise on Iraq and in the war on terror make him a superb choice as Deputy Secretary of State, and I look forward to working with him in this new post.
Ambassador Negroponte leaves big shoes to fill as the Director of National Intelligence. The DNI has become a core part of our national security team. The DNI determines the national intelligence budget, overseas the collection and analysis of intelligence information, ensures that intelligence agencies share information with each other, and creates common standards for intelligence community personnel. The vigilance of the DNI helps keep the American people safe from harm.
Admiral Mike McConnell has the experience, the intellect, and the character to succeed in this position. He served as Director of the National Security Agency during the 1990s. He was the intelligence officer for the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the liberation of Kuwait in Operation Desert Storm. Admiral McConnell has decades of experience, ensuring that our military forces had the intelligence they need to fight and win wars.
He's worked with the Congress and with the White House to strengthen our defenses against threats to our information systems. He has earned our nation's highest award for service in the intelligence community. As DNI, Mike will report directly to me, and I am confident he will give me the best information and analysis that America's intelligence community can provide.
I thank John and Mike for taking on these new challenges. I appreciate their service to our country. Each of them will do good work in their new positions. And it is vital they take up their new responsibilities promptly. I'm confident the United States Senate will also see the value of these two serving in crucial positions. And I would hope that they would be confirmed as quickly as possible.
Congratulations to you both. Thank you very much.
AMBASSADOR NEGROPONTE: Thank you very much, Mr. President, Mr. Vice President, Secretary Rice, Admiral McConnell. It's been a great honor, Mr. President, to serve as your first Director of National Intelligence. I will always be grateful to you for having given me the opportunity to help achieve the goals that you and the Congress set for intelligence reform.
During the past 20 months, I believe that our intelligence community has embraced the challenge of functioning as a single unified enterprise, and reaffirmed the fact that it is the best intelligence community in the world, second to none. That's to the credit of the hundreds -- the thousands of intelligence professionals who serve this nation around the globe, many in harm's way. They and their families make great sacrifices to keep America safe. It has been a privilege to lead them, and it is because of them that I leave the post of the Director of National Intelligence with regret.
But I am heartened to know that the intelligence community now will be led by Admiral Mike McConnell, a man whose exceptional accomplishments as an intelligence professional will ensure wise stewardship and success as the Director of National Intelligence. Admiral McConnell will continue to drive forward the reforms we have initiated, fully integrating the domestic, foreign and military dimensions of our national intelligence enterprise.
Now for someone who started his career as a junior foreign service officer in October of 1960, the position, Mr. President, to which you are now nominating me is a -- an opportunity of a lifetime. If confirmed by the Senate as Deputy Secretary of State, I look forward to supporting Secretary Rice in carrying out your foreign policy goals. I particularly welcome the opportunity to help her provide leadership to the thousands of Americans and foreign nationals who work in the Department of State here in the United States, and in the more than 270 embassies, consulates, and diplomatic missions the Department maintains overseas.
Whether in Baghdad, Kabul, Kosovo, or elsewhere, these dedicated professionals are on the front line of advancing America's commitment to freedom. It will be a great privilege for me to come home to the Department where I began my career and rejoin a community of colleagues whose work is so important and of whom the nation is so justly proud.
Thank you very much.
THE PRESIDENT: Good job. Thank you. Michael.
VICE ADMIRAL McCONNELL: Mr. President, Mr. Vice President, Secretary Rice, Ambassador. Thank you very much, sir, for your kind remarks and your vote of confidence in asking me to become your second Director of National Intelligence. If confirmed by the Senate, I look forward to serving you, Mr. President, the nation's senior leadership and all the great men and women of our national security and homeland security communities.
I understand these people rely on timely and useful intelligence every day. After spending most of my adult life in the intelligence community, focused on getting the right information to the right decision-maker in the right time and format, I'm excited about returning.
Fortunately, my work over the past 10 years after leaving government has allowed me to stay focused on the national security and intelligence communities as a strategist and as a consultant. Therefore, in many respects, I never left. I have followed the issues and the initiatives, and I hope to be quickly and directly relevant to build on the many accomplishments of Ambassador Negroponte and his team.
Unlike just a decade ago, the threats of today and the future are moving at increasing speeds and across organizational and geographic boundaries. This will require increased coordinated responsiveness by our community of intelligence professionals. I plan to continue the strong emphasis on integration of the community to better serve all of our customers. That will mean better sharing of information, increased focus on customer needs and service, improved security processes, and deeper penetration of our targets to provide the needed information for tactical, operational and strategic decision-making.
Public service has always been my passion. I look forward to serving this great nation as we continue to fight on the global war on terrorism and to face the many new challenges of the new century.
I want to thank my wife, Terry, and my wonderful family and our grandchildren for their support as I take on these new challenges.
Thank you again, Mr. President. All the best, Mr. Ambassador, for your new leadership role at the Department of State.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all.
END 9:55 A.M. EST