WASHINGTON — As U.S. ambassador to Iraq for the last eight months, John D. Negroponte deftly maneuvered between warring factions, deadly ambushes and dubious allies in a brutal combat zone.
Negroponte will need those skills and more for the bureaucratic wars he will face in Washington if he is confirmed as the first director of national intelligence.
President Bush's nomination of Negroponte on Thursday ended two months of speculation about who would finally agree to oversee America's demoralized spy services.
But the surprise choice of a veteran diplomat who speaks five languages -- but has no known experience working in the shadowy world of espionage -- also refueled concerns that the high-profile post entailed vast responsibilities but limited authority and that it may do little to increase the nation's security.
Rep. Jane Harman (D-Venice), the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said she warned Negroponte in a telephone conversation Thursday that he would be leaving the relative safety of the heavily guarded embassy compound in Baghdad for the uncertainties of Washington politics.
"I said, 'You're leaving the Green Zone for the red zone,' " said Harman, who was a strong proponent of the intelligence reform bill that created the job.
Negroponte supporters argued that his access to the president -- and his diplomatic skill in getting incompatible agencies to work together -- could outweigh his weak intelligence background.
But a Bush administration official who has worked with the easygoing diplomat described the early stages of the amorphous job as "impossible: no office, no staff, no budget."
"John doesn't have a political bone in his body," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "He's never worked the political angles. But in this kind of job, he'll need political backing. This isn't just diplomacy anymore."
The official added: "Where's his political backing? In Congress? No. From the Republican Party? No. He's not in the Cabinet. Are Cabinet officers really going to report to him on anything?"
The challenge is immense. For starters, Negroponte would have to balance two often-competing roles. He would be the president's chief intelligence advisor and the leader of a sprawling spying community that is required by law to remain independent of politics.
