According to John MacGaffin, the CIA's former associate deputy director for clandestine operations, "This is a guy who plays hardball. He's a man who understands the whole range of counterintelligence, intelligence and covert action. They're all parts of foreign policy and protecting ourselves." "We've known for the last 40 years that what's wrong intelligence is that no one's in charge," one retired CIA official told "Newsweek". "For once we have a chance to do something with someone truly in charge. Negroponte's going to decide what the answer is."