20061203 QandA with John Negroponte on C Span

QandA with John Negroponte on C Span

Transcript of December 3, 2006 C-Span Question and Answer with John Negroponte, Director of National Intelligence

Sunday, December 3rd, 2006

Cross posted here.

Earlier this evening I took some time out from the column deadlines to watch this Sunday’s segment of the C-Span series “Question and Answer.”

This week’s segment featured the current director of national intelligence, John Negroponte, in a broad sweeping and illuminating discussion of his job, family, education and background, persistent leaks and other current events and topical issues.

Often I will listen to C-Span on the computer, in the background while I work away at the keyboard. But I enjoyed my break and I found myself glued to the TV and after the program was over, I looked-up the transcript.

More information is available on Director Negroponte and the Office of National Intelligence can be found at: U.S. News & World Report: U.S. intelligence

The transcript is available here. However, I usually don’t place much faith in the permanence of links outside of the Maryland Blogger Alliance and I’ll ask my colleague Stephanie Dray over at Joisting for Justice if she would consider putting the entire 8,280 word transcript on her web site because she has “jumps” available and can briefly introduce the transcript on her front page and then jump it to another page.

C-Span Question and Answer with John Negroponte

December 3, 2006 John Negroponte, Director of National Intelligence

Info: John Negroponte, discusses his job and other topical issues.

http://www.q-and-a.org/Transcript/?ProgramID=1104

Uncorrected transcript provided by Morningside Partners. C-SPAN uses its best efforts to provide accurate transcripts of its programs, but it can not be held liable for mistakes such as omitted words, punctuation, spelling, mistakes that change meaning, etc.

BRIAN LAMB, HOST: John Negroponte, you started in your career in Vietnam with the embassy there and then you ended up in Iraq with the embassy, running that; any comparison between these two wars?

JOHN NEGROPONTE, DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: That’s a good question. I think about it a lot but I also – I don’t really see many analogies. The Vietnam situation was a Cold War situation. There was a very clear cut enemy and North Vietnam being supported by the Soviet Union in this Cold War conflict. I think the enemy was easier to define. We didn’t have has as many debates about the nature of the enemy as we seem to be having with respect to Iraq and then one interesting thing, is that the security situations were very different. In Vietnam, the cities were secure; the province capitals were secure. I walked around that country as an unarmed civilian for almost four years without ever having any serious brushes, so to speak. Whereas, in Iraq, even the capital is highly insecure; perhaps, one of the most insecure places in the country, so there are a lot of differences, probably more differences then there are similarities.

LAMB: What impact did that Vietnam experience have on the rest of your career?

Read the rest here.