New Intel Head: No Cherry-picking!

Would you buy some strategic intelligence from this man?

That’s retired Vice Admiral Mike McConnell, the new nominee for the increasing backwater known as the Director of National Intelligence. John Negroponte, the first DNI, evidently couldn’t get out of the job fast enough, as he defected for the safer bureaucratic harbors of the State Department. Negroponte’s legacy at ODNI is still a bit murky, but during his tenure, he consolidated a fair amount of power within his office — sometimes at the expense of long-term strategic intelligence forecasting.

McConnell is a far less flamboyant figure — he hasn’t been linked to any death squads, for instance — but the former head of the National Security Agency has a reputation for quiet, professional diligence. During his confirmation hearing today before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, McConnell signaled that he intends to hew to that reputation. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) asked him what he would do if he learned President Bush was “cherry-picking or exaggerating” intelligence to justify a war. McConnell’s response was encouraging:

If I was aware that information was being used inappropriately, I would make that known to whoever was using information inappropriately … I would tell all those responsible for the process what the situation was, and (this committee) as part of the process, would be informed.

That may not be such a hypothetical scenario. According to today’s Los Angeles Times, the White House has decided to postpone releasing information on Iranian involvement in Iraq. Much like the Iraq brief in 2002, the scope of Iranian malfeasance in Iraq is one that has stirred heated debate within the intelligence community — though administration policymakers appear much more certain.

McConnell’s confirmation is practically assured. And it looks like he’ll have his first test.