Help Wanted: Death Squad Experience A +

Jesus H. Christ - just when you think this Administration has scraped the last of the scum from the bottom of the barrel, another Raygun-era criminal gets his reward for covering Poppy's ass.

Ladies and Gentlemen, say hello to our new Director of National Intelligence, John Negroponte.

If the name sounds vaguely familiar, there's ample reason. Negroponte recently replaced Presidential Medal of Freedom winner Paul Bremer as HMFIC in Iraq, after a controversial appointment as Ambassador to the UN in 2001. Prior to that, his most notable achievements included a stint as Ambassador to Honduras, where he basically oversaw the illegal arming of Nicaraguan Contras during the Raygun years - remember that? Always the busy little bee, Negroponte was involved in a lot more than just gun running during the time he spent improving relations with Our Neighbors To The South.

From Maryknoll, the US-based Catholic missionary organization:

In addition to his work with the Nicaraguan Contra army, Negroponte helped conceal from Congress the murder, kidnapping and torture abuses of a CIA-equipped and -trained Honduran military unit, Battalion 3-16. No mention of these human rights violations ever appeared in State Department Human Rights reports for Honduras. The Baltimore Sun reports that Efrain Diaz Arrivillaga, then a delegate in the Honduran Congress and a voice of dissent, told the Sun that he complained to Negroponte on numerous occasions about the Honduran military’s human rights abuses. Rick Chidester, a junior embassy official under Negroponte, reported to the Sun that he was forced to omit an exhaustive gathering of human rights violations from his 1982 State Department report. Sister Laetitia Bordes went on a fact-finding delegation to Honduras in May 1982 to investigate the whereabouts of 32 Salvadoran nuns and women of faith who fled to Honduras in 1981 after Archbishop Oscar Romero’s assassination. Negroponte claimed the embassy knew nothing, but in 1996, Negroponte’s predecessor Jack Binns reported that the women had been captured, tortured, and then crammed into helicopters from which they were tossed to their deaths.

This is the guy who has just been nominated as Head Spook of the US - effectively overseeing *all* the agencies that make up the US Intelligence Community. All.

Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps Intelligence Organizations –each collects and processes intelligence relevant to their particular Service needs.

Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) - provides accurate, comprehensive, and timely foreign intelligence on national security topics to national policy and decision makers.

Coast Guard Intelligence – deals with information related to US maritime borders and Homeland Security.

Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) - provides timely and objective military intelligence to warfighters, policymakers, and force planners.

Department of Energy – performs analyses of foreign nuclear weapons, nuclear non-proliferation, and energy security-related intelligence issues in support of US national security policies, programs, and objectives.

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) - prevents terrorist attacks within the United States, reduces America's vulnerability to terrorism, and minimizes the damage and recovers from attacks that do occur.

Department of State – deals with information affecting US foreign policy.

Department of Treasury – collects and processes information that may affect US fiscal and monetary policy.

Federal Bureau of Investigation – deals with counterespionage and data about international criminal cases.

National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) – provides timely, relevant, and accurate geospatial intelligence in support of national security.

National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) - coordinates collection and analysis of information from airplane and satellite reconnaissance by the military services and the CIA.

National Security Agency (NSA) - collects and processes foreign signals intelligence information for our Nation's leaders and warfighters, and protects critical US information security systems from compromise.

Looks like coke's back in as supply is now expected to increase, and Afghani heroin is out.