It’s Negroponte

CNN reports that President Bush has nominated John Negroponte, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, to be the first director of national intelligence. Negroponte said that the job will be “the most challenging assignment I have undertaken in more than 40 years of government service.” That’s probably an understatement.
The nominee has received praise from Thomas Kean and Lee Hamilton who, as heads of the 9/11 commission, pushed for the creation of this position. I was no big fan of the concept or of the overall performance of its authors, but Negroponte seems like a good choice.