What does the new National Counterterrorism Center have in common with:

• $8.8 billion dollars in unaccounted for Iraq reconstruction funds?
• allegations that the former Coalition Provisional Authority was involved in election fraud?
• chaos in the training of Iraq's security force?

Meet Vice Admiral John Scott Redd. He's having a Senate confirmation hearing tomorrow and you're invited.

No one person—other than Redd—has been seen to figure so centrally in the CPA's scandals until Unbossed's research team on his recent nomination brought these facts to light.

On June 10, President Bush announced that he was tapping VADM Redd to serve as the director of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC)—which is responsible for analyzing intelligence on terrorism and for the strategic planning of counterterrorism operations. The NCTC will report partly to the President and partly to John Negroponte, the new director of National Intelligence. The announcement was made just one week before a Congressional requirement for the NCTC to be fully operational.

At tomorrow’s confirmation hearing, Senators probably won’t hear much about Redd’s counterterrorism expertise: According to widely circulated news stories, Redd has never been involved in counterterrorism operations.

As a commander in the Persian and Arabian Gulf regions, he was instrumental in the re-commissioning of the Fifth Fleet—a very political, controversial and expensive project. Upon retiring as Vice Admiral in 1998 after a 36-year Navy career, Redd kicked around in various Pentagon positions and later as Vice Chair of "Veterans for Chambliss", the Senate campaign most famous for its vile political smears against incumbent Senator Max Cleland, a Vietnam War veteran who lost three limbs in combat. He was named CEO of NetSchools which immediately obtained the first No Child Left Behind grant. NetSchools was later purchased by Plato Learning for a cool $25 million. Nice work after living on military wages all those years.

Yeah, the guy that's having a Senate confirmation hearing on Thursday, July 21.

Following the Congressional testimony of ex-Iraq Survey Group director David Kay on the failure to find Saddam Hussein's alleged store of WMDs, Redd was appointed as the executive director of the Robb-Silberman Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons on Mass Destruction in Feburary 2004.

The Commission was roundly criticized for stonewalling on its work during the presidential election and providing little more than "a big dose of political spin that pleased the White House but provided little enlightenment for the public."

However, key questions arise with Redd's most recent post—deputy administrator and chief operating officer of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad.

Redd was responsible for the CPA's programs for the reconstruction of Iraq's infrastructure, including the awarding of $18.4 billion in contracts through the project management office for major improvements to Iraq's electricity, oil, transportation, water resources, education, housing and construction, and communications networks. In this post, he was also responsible for policy affecting Iraq's security programs. Those include the new Iraqi Army, the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps, Iraqi Border Patrol and Facilities Protection Services.

Criticisms of the CPA are well documented:

• $8.8 billion missing in Iraq reconstruction funds
• lack of progress in restoring Iraq's pre-war infrastructure
• seriously flawed security force training and deployment
• allegations of election fraud

He's been a busy boy. And then there's that Senate Select Intelligence Committee confirmation hearing on Thursday afternoon.

Besides widespread reports of graft and submission of fake invoices by contractors to ratchet up profits, an audit of the CPA uncovered:

"Severe inefficiencies and poor management" by the Coalition Provisional Authority has left auditors with no guarantee the money was properly used," the report said.

"The CPA did not establish or implement sufficient managerial, financial and contractual controls to ensure that [Development Fund for Iraq] funds were used in a transparent manner," said Stuart W. Bowen Jr., director of the Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction.

Former CPA chief Paul Bremer's response: Western accounting standards could not be applied in the midst of a war. Admiral Redd, as COO and deputy director was only one of two CPA employees who reported directly to Bremer.

According to a May 2005 report in The Washington Post:

The United States has allocated more than $6 billion for improving Iraq's electrical grid and water supply. But a recent survey of living conditions conducted by the United Nations and the Iraqi government found that 85 percent of households in the country lacked stable electricity and that just 54 percent had access to clean water.

Additionally, another of Redd's direct responsibilities—the training and deployment of Iraq's security programs—has been an unmitigated disaster despite the spin coming from The White House.

According to U.S. government data, 69% of the 98,000-soldier Iraqi army has been trained and equipped. But only 39% of the national police force of 142,000 is ready for duty. And BusinessWeek Online has learned that the number of actual police may drop sharply once an ongoing head count finishes.

Wonder if they'll be bringing that rollicking success up at the Senate confirmation hearing tomorrow at 211 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, DC.

In the July 25 edition of The New Yorker, investigative reporter Seymour Hersch wrote Get Out the Vote, alleging that the CPA attempted to manipulate the Iraq election outcome.

Many questions come to mind with the impending confirmation hearing of Vice Admiral Redd and his involvement in Iraq, not the least of which is his lack of direct experience in counterterrorism:

• What was his direct role in the administration and accounting of Iraqi, UN, and Congressionally-appropriated reconstruction funds?
• What is his explanation for the missing $8.8 billion that was clearly in the scope of his role at the CPA?
• Did he have previous experience in managing large-scale, post-war infrastructure projects? If none, why was he appointed to that role?
• Did he have previous experience in overseeing the recruitment, training, and deployment of ground forces, law enforcement personnel, and intelligence gathering? If none, why was he appointed to that role?
• Did he have a political role at the CPA as Deputy Director and what qualified him for that position?

Vice Admiral Redd's Senate confirmation hearing is scheduled for Thursday, July 21 at 2:30pm. Contact the Senate Select Intelligence Committee members today to voice your concern about Redd's fitness to serve as the US counterterrorism chief.

[note: Izzy and shirah were major contributors to the research and analysis contained in this report. Many thanks to the entire Unbossed team for their work in editing and fact checking such an urgent and universally unreported story of critical national security importance.]

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