July 17, 2004
Intelligence Failure
Just what the intelligence apparatus needs - more bureaucracy...
As the 9/11 Commission's final report leaks like an overturned swimming pool, a rumored and oft-discussed recommendation of this ill-fated commission is the creation of a cabinet-level intelligence chief.
It's most unsurprising that a Washington commission concludes that there aren't enough people between the intelligence and the man who needs it most. Fact is that there doesn't need to be another link in the chain - a link that can be broken, that can filter, that can delay. The President currently receives daily briefings from the CIA director, and from the other branches via the appropriate channels - DIA via Defense, FBI via Justice, etc. It sounds good to have an intelligence 'czar' - wait, no, it doesn't, in fact we can't recall any czar in particular that got anything good accomplished.
This proposal seems likely to result in not only a single point of failure, but also in a single point of blame.
Posted by MEC2 at July 17, 2004 10:35 PM