Vice Admiral John Scott Redd

Hearings are coming up on a new appointment to the National Counterterrorism Center. Redd was the deputy administrator and chief operating officer of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad. A stint with Paul Bremer's CPA doesn't inspire confidence. The CPA hasn't exactly earned a stellar reputation for management style what with missing funds, nepotism, and lack of interest in congressional oversight.

Redd Herring: one man's connection to three Iraq War scandals at Unbossed.com

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.

It will be interesting to see how the hearings go and what comes out of them in terms of testimony.