Rumsfeld seeks undersecretary to oversee military intelligence

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is calling for a new undersecretary to head up the Pentagon's military intelligence operations. "I was asked in my confirmation hearing what I worried about when I went to bed at night for our country, and my answer was intelligence," Rumsfeld said Monday during a meeting with the National Journalists Roundtable, an organization that promotes increased access to Washington officials for black reporters. There is no Defense undersecretary for military intelligence operations at the present. According to Rumsfeld, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, many of the Pentagon's intelligence-gathering methods were revealed and, as a result, are no longer useful. "In this business, denial and deception are engaged in and the ability of other countries to engage in denial and deception has been improved because of the proliferation of knowledge about how we do our business, and that's been unhelpful," the secretary said. To remedy the situation, the secretary wants to create a new position at the Pentagon to oversee military intelligence operations. "I've had some folks, put some folks to work on the task at seeing how we can improve the intelligence elements of the Department of Defense and work more effectively with George Tenet [CIA director] and the CIA to try to improve the security of the American people," he told reporters. During a Pentagon town hall-style meeting with military and civilian workers Tuesday, Rumsfeld criticized the lack of progress made on intelligence issues during his tenure. "We have not made many strides since I've been here in improving the intelligence take," he said. Pentagon officials are interviewing potential replacements for Vice Adm. Thomas Wilson, the head of Defense Intelligence Agency who retired recently. Rumsfeld said he hoped to have a nominee soon.