Negroponte unveils new spy priorities

WASHINGTON -- The nation's intelligence chief, unveiling his plan for improving intelligence operations, established a new priority for America's spies yesterday: strengthening democratic forces around the globe as the best means to fight extremism.

John D. Negroponte, the first director of national intelligence, released a detailed strategy for coordinating the nation's 15 spy agencies. It calls for building up the ranks of intelligence operatives and analysts to prevent terrorism and the spread of weapons of mass destruction, as well as to defend against other security threats.

But in a departure from the past, the document also identifies as a key mission the need to ''bolster the growth of democracy and sustain democratic states," an objective traditionally discussed in the realms of policy making and diplomacy, not spycraft. ''We have learned to our peril that the lack of freedom in one state endangers the peace and freedom of others and that failed states are a refuge and breeding ground of extremism," the 20-page document said. ''Self-sustaining democratic states are essential to world peace and development."

The intelligence community, therefore, ''must provide policy makers with an enhanced framework for identifying both the threats to and opportunities for promoting democracy," according to the document.

The other missions, according to Negroponte, are to find new ways to penetrate terrorist groups and other so-called ''hard targets," such as hidden weapons programs, and to better anticipate significant global events that might take the US government by surprise.

The National Intelligence Strategy comes six months after Negroponte was installed as the first director of national intelligence in charge of all foreign and domestic intelligence. The post, with a full-time staff, was established by Congress earlier this year upon the recommendation of the independent commission that investigated the intelligence failures that led to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the Iraq war.

In the past, the CIA director doubled as the nation's overall intelligence director.

The new strategy sets common objectives for all of the spy agencies and for the first time incorporates the FBI's National Security Division, the Department of Homeland Security, and state, local, and tribal governments into national intelligence plans. It lays out several broad objectives, including greater sharing of information between the FBI and the CIA; strengthening the nation's ability to analyze threat information; building up the spy ranks; and expanding secret relationships with foreign spy agencies.

''This strategy is a statement of our fundamental values, highest priorities, and orientation toward the future, but it is an action document as well," Negroponte said. ''For US national intelligence, the time for change is now.

''We expect this strategy to guide the policies and plans in the various intelligence community agencies. So, if you will, this is a sort of strategic guidance document. If I were to choose one single watchword of this strategy, it's 'integration,' and I think that the whole thrust of this strategy is to drive toward the best possible integration of our intelligence efforts across the board."

Negroponte and another senior intelligence official who briefed reporters on the plan yesterday insisted that the document merely codifies existing priorities of the intelligence agencies and is intended to serve as ''guidance" as they begin the process of restructuring their operations to become more efficient and pool their resources in order to provide decision makers in Washington with the best possible intelligence to make informed decisions.

Nevertheless, supporting democracy around the world marks a new focus for the spy community. Negroponte said the emphasis was intended to bring the strategy more in line with President Bush's premier foreign policy goal. Both he and a senior intelligence official who later briefed reporters insisted that the document does not give the intelligence agencies new authority to undermine unfriendly regimes that don't fit the US vision through covert action or other means -- a highly controversial practice of the CIA during the Cold War.

Bryan Bender can be reached at bender@globe.com.