Scott Redd

Scott Redd
Director, National Counterterrorism Center
Office of the Director of National Intelligence
Previous job: Executive director of the President's Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD commission)
Reports to: The president on strategic operational planning, the DNI on all other matters

There's some logic in putting a proponent of major intelligence reforms in a position where he can try to affect their outcome. Before being named the director of the government's counterterrorism nerve center, Scott Redd was the executive director of the Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction, better known as the WMD commission, which famously concluded that the intelligence agencies' assessment on Iraq's weapons program was "dead wrong."

Now, as director of the National Counterterrorism Center, Redd will try to implement many of the information-sharing and collaboration recommendations the commission made.

The counterterrorism center is the government's main source for terrorism analysis. But Redd's experience lies primarily in the operations arena. A retired Navy rear admiral with 36 years of active duty, he commanded eight military organizations, including the 5th Fleet in the Middle East and all naval forces for Central Command. He also was director of strategic plans and policy for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, where he developed national military strategy. Most recently, he was the No. 2 official overseeing postwar Iraq as the chief operating officer of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad.

President Bush has called Redd "a man of enormous experience" who will be a "good boss" at NCTC. But while Redd's credentials are impressive, it's unclear how they make him an expert in counterterrorism. Redd's predecessor, John Brennan, was a career CIA terrorism analyst who joined the agency in 1980 and had a background in Middle Eastern affairs. He also served briefly as President Clinton's daily intelligence briefer.

Former intelligence officials believe that Redd's appointment could signal two things: Bush wants to bring in non-CIA officials to top posts, and he is more interested in a strong manager than a specialist.

At his confirmation hearing in July, Redd said he would "build on the existing foundation" of NCTC and "place exceptional value on collaboration and teamwork. We are at war. The buddy system will be in force." (The WMD commission faulted intelligence agencies for not cooperating in their Iraq weapons analyses.) Redd continued, "Bridging what has traditionally been referred to as foreign and domestic intelligence will be one of my top priorities."