WASHINGTON, May 6 (UPI) -- A turf war is looming between the national intelligence director and the Defense Department, a published report says.
As director of national intelligence, John Negroponte manages the network of 16 spy agencies, such as the CIA, National Security Agency, Energy Department and Drug Enforcement Administration.
And although the Friday resignation of CIA director Porter Goss is seen as a power-struggle win for Negroponte, he still has a formidable foe in Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Rumsfeld's department garners an estimated 85 percent of the funds budgeted for intelligence, the Times said.
Not only does each military branch have its own intelligence unit, but last month Rumsfeld approved a central military intelligence unit, among other Pentagon spy outfits.
When Congress was debating the creation of the national intelligence position, Rumsfeld successfully warned against creating a layer between military intelligence and the troop commanders on the ground.
Now Rumsfeld wants access to CIA raw data, for use in the new military intelligence unit, the Times said.
