To the Point

US-Syrian Relations after the Hariri Assassination

The President has named Ambassador to Iraq John Negroponte as America's first Director of National Intelligence. Meantime, Bush is preparing for next week's trip to Europe, where Syria's control of Lebanon will be high on the agenda. The President said he'll work with other countries to get Syrian troops out of Lebanon, and he supported an international investigation of this week's assassination of Lebanon's former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Is diplomat Negroponte in for conflict with the Rumsfeld Pentagon over the $40 billion intelligence budget? Can Syrian troops be forced out of Lebanon? What about Syria's new alliance with Iran? We speak with journalists and experts on the Middle East, including Syrian-born Richard Dekmejian and Lebanese-born Fouad Ajami. Making News: Bush Nominates Negroponte as Director of National Intelligence President Bush has nominated career diplomat John Negroponte to be the first Director of National Intelligence. Negroponte was Ambassador to the UN, and is currently Ambassador to Iraq. When Congress created the DNI last year, it was not completely clear about the responsibilities of the job, but today Bush insisted that Negroponte will have both access to him and control of the budget. We hear more from Faye Bowers of the Christian Science Monitor and former CIA Director Stansfield Turner. Reporter's Notebook: White House Fights Former American POW's Trying to Collect Compensation Seventeen American pilots shot down during the 1991 Gulf War were abused and tortured by the regime of Saddam Hussein. A federal judge has awarded them $1 billion in compensation from Iraqi assets frozen by the US, but the Bush Administration has challenged the award on the ground that Iraq needs the money. Tony Onorato is one of the attorneys representing the POW's as they appeal the decision to the US Supreme Court.