William Burns, career diplomat, sails through CIA confirmation hearing
WASHINGTON – William Burns appeared to glide through his confirmation hearing to grow to be CIA director on Wednesday, successful marquee endorsements and frothy assist from senators in each events.
“I can’t think of anybody that has the breadth of experience that you’ve had in the world,” Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, informed Burns at one level.
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., who has been a vocal critic of some CIA ways, joked that the hearing risked “becoming a full-fledged bouquet throwing contest” as he heaped reward on Burns’ human rights report.
The hearing opened with auspicious endorsements from two bold-named statesmen.
“The confirmation should be a bipartisan no-brainer,” former Secretary of State James Baker informed the Senate Intelligence Committee. Baker stated Burns helped lead the nation through the tip of the Cold War, the reunification of Germany and combating Iraqi aggression.
“Bill is sort of merely one of many most interesting and most clever American diplomats,” he said.
Former CIA Director Leon Panetta said Burns’ experience and unquestioned integrity make him a great choice to lead the agency.
“Bill Burns is the precise particular person on the proper time to guide the CIA,” Panetta said. “I belief Bill Burns to be a director who can have their backs,” he added of CIA employees.
Burns, President Joe Biden’s nominee, has a globe-trotting resumeand nearly four decades of experience negotiating with U.S. adversaries from Russia to Iran. He is not trained in espionage, but lawmakers noted that he has been a consumer of U.S. intelligence analyses for decades. And Burns himself said sharp, apolitical intelligence is vital for dealing with American’s adversaries.
“Good intelligence delivered with honestly and integrity is the critical foundation for sound policy choices,” Burns said.
Burns said the nation faces persistent threats, but China has become the greatest test.
“It’s a world where familiar threats persist – from terrorism and nuclear proliferation, to an aggressive Russia, a provocative North Korea, and a hostile Iran,” Burns said. “But it’s also a world of new challenges, in which climate change and global health insecurity are taking a heavy toll on the American people; in which cyber threats pose an ever-greater risk to our society; and in which an adversarial, predatory Chinese leadership poses our biggest geopolitical test.”
Burns has played critical diplomatic roles
Burns is a career ambassador and former deputy secretary of State who has been confirmed by the Senate five times. Experts say he is a unique choice for the CIA post because he comes from the world of diplomacy, not spy craft.
The 64-year-old Burns has served as U.S. ambassador to Russia and Jordan. He conducted back-channel talks with Iran that eventually led to the 2015 nuclear deal (later jettisoned by the Trump administration). He speaks Russian, Arabic and French.
Drawing on his time stationed in Moscow, Burns said the U.S. should not underestimate the threat from Russia and its leader, Vladimir Putin.
“While Russia may be in many ways a declining power, it can be at least as disruptive under Putin’s leadership as” rising powers like China, he said. “Most of my white hair came from my service in Russia over the years,” particularly dealing with Putin, he said.
If confirmed, Burns would take the helm of the CIA at a time of escalating threats from of China, Russian and Iran.
Burns: waterboarding is ‘torture’
Under questioning, Burns said he wouldn’t allow enhanced interrogation techniques such as waterboarding that were used more than a decade ago. But he said he wouldn’t punish career officers who participated in the program under Justice Department guidelines.
Waterboarding terror suspects for information became a scandal after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., asked whether Burns would employ any interrogation techniques beyond what is outlined in the Army Field Manual.
Burns said the policy has been settled since former President Barack Obama prohibited waterboarding in 2009 and Congress enshrined the policy in legislation under advocacy from a former prisoner of war, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.
“I believe that waterboarding does constitute torture under the law,” Burns said. “I think it’s safe to say we all learned some very hard lessons in the period after 9/11.”
Threats to U.S. from Russia, China, Iran
“Our country faces a host of hazards – from China’s drive to surpass the United States technologically, to Russia’s continued malign efforts in cyberspace and disinformation, to the ongoing threats from Iran and North Korea,” Sen. Mark Warner, chairman of the Senate panel, said in his opening remarks.
The top Republican on the panel, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, said the threat from China is greater than from Russia, Iran and North Korea.
“The threat from the Chinese Communist Party is the most significant facing our nation in perhaps its history,” Rubio said. “We cannot, in my view, just be the orderly caretakers of our nation’s decline.”
Rubio asked about connections to China from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where Burns has served as president for six years.
One example was the endowment’s participation in the China United States Exchange Foundation, which Rubio stated was a entrance for neutralizing opposition to the Chinese authorities. Another instance was a 2019 journey to China for 11 congressional staffers, whom Rubio stated met with officers in search of to affect coverage towards China. A 3rd instance is a partnership in Beijing between Carnegie and Tsinghua University, which Rubio stated did analysis that represented a cyber risk.
“Given your acknowledged considerations about China’s soft-power affect efforts, why when you have been on the helm did the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace set up relationship with and settle for funding from this group?” Rubio requested.
Burns stated he inherited this system with the change basis and ended it as a result of he shared Rubio’s considerations. Burns stated the 2019 delegation, which included staffers from each events and each chambers of Congress, was a chance for officers to have interaction instantly. And Burns stated Carnegie would withdraw from the middle with Tsinghua if its analysis weren’t unbiased.
“I share your concerns about foreign influence operations,” Burns stated.
Cornyn requested Burns whether or not Iran could possibly be trusted with a nuclear weapon.
“No, sir,” Burns stated. “I think it’s absolutely important for the United States to continue to do everything we can to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.”
Burns would doubtless play a behind-the-scenes function within the Biden administration’s efforts to revive the 2015 nuclear settlement with Iran, which barred Iran from growing a nuclear weapon turned one of the vital contentious overseas coverage debates throughout that administration. Former President Donald Trump scrapped the deal, however Biden has stated diplomatic efforts should resume.
Burns promised to offer Biden with “unvarnished” intelligence assessments of Iran even when it contradicts the administration’s coverage objective of returning to the 2015 deal.
Burns did not serve in ‘trip spots’
A former chairman of the intelligence committee, Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., stated he seemed ahead to Burns’ confirmation after his service in battle zones. “You’ve not been given vacation spots,” Burr stated.
Burns stated he labored with CIA officers as a diplomat within the Middle East and Russia and “developed enormous respect” for his or her contributions.
“I served alongside them in hard places around the world,” Burns stated. “It was their skill at collection and analysis that often gave me an edge as a negotiator; their partnership that helped make me an effective ambassador; and their insights that helped me make thoughtful choices on the most difficult policy issues.”
Cornyn requested Burns whether or not Iran could possibly be trusted with a nuclear weapon.
“No, sir,” Burns stated. “I think it’s absolutely important for the United States to continue to do everything we can to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.”
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Warner has beforehand stated that Burns’ standing as an apolitical diplomat might assist restore confidence and morale on the CIA after 4 years of assaults by Trump. Trump repeatedly forged doubt on the intelligence neighborhood’s work, significantly when it got here to conclusions about Russia’s assaults on the 2016 and 2020 elections.
“As a career diplomat under Democratic and Republican presidents, (Burns) has established himself as a smart and tested public servant who is free from political interference,” Warner stated in response to Burns’ nomination. “Now more than ever, our intelligence and defense communities deserve leaders who will not politicize our national security institutions.”
