Washington:
Veteran US diplomat William Burns, nominated to lead the CIA, pledged Wednesday to retain the agency no cost of politics and mentioned China would be his largest concentrate if confirmed.
Burns was picked by President Joe Biden to replace retiring Central Intelligence Agency Director Gina Haspel and to assistance restore an air of independence soon after former president Donald Trump allegedly attempted to manipulate the country’s spies for political motives.
He told the Senate Intelligence Committee that his profession in the Middle East and Russia produced him appreciate the worth of untainted intelligence.
“I learned that good intelligence, delivered with honesty and integrity, is America’s first line of defense,” he told the panel.
“I learned that intelligence professionals have to tell policymakers what they need to hear, even if they don’t want to hear it. And I learned that politics must stop where intelligence work begins.”
He mentioned Biden stressed that “he wants the agency to give it to him straight.”
“And I pledged to do just that, and to defend those who do the same.”
Burns also told the panel that China was the major challenge the nation faces, echoing views stated by Biden and other top rated officials of his administration.
“Out-competing China will be key to our national security in the decades ahead. That will require a long-term, clear-eyed, bipartisan strategy, underpinned by domestic renewal and solid intelligence,” he mentioned.
He mentioned that when in some places, like nuclear non-proliferation, the United States can cooperate with Beijing, it is nonetheless “a formidable, authoritarian adversary.”
The CIA in unique has faced challenges, with China getting recruited a quantity of US diplomats and spies more than current years and also, beginning a decade ago, bringing down the CIA’s personal network of informants in the nation.
Burns also stressed in a statement to the hearing that the fight for technological superiority in espionage, which includes the use of artificial intelligence, will also be a crucial element of his mission.
Until his nomination Burns was president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a top Washington foreign policy feel-tank.
If authorized as anticipated by the Senate, Burns will be the initial profession diplomat to lead the CIA.
But he has deep knowledge in safety and intelligence matters soon after spending more than 3 decades in the US foreign service, which includes a stint as ambassador to Russia from 2005-2008.
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