Intelligence Panaceas

I thought Barack Obama was very impressive yesterday, in his handling of the Christmas Bomber issue.  Those Republicans using this for political gain are quite despicable.

Here is an insightful column by a former CIA agent, Ray McGovern, on intelligence reforms gone awry, with a short quote below.

The creation of the post of Director of National Intelligence, the National Counterterrorism Center, and the 170,000-person Department of Homeland Security was the mother of all misguided panaceas.

Bear in mind that the general election of 2004 was just a few months away when the 9/11 report was published, and lawmakers and administration functionaries desperately needed to be seen to be doing something. And, as is almost always the case in such circumstances, they made things considerably worse.

The 9/11 Commissioners had been fretting over the fact that, in their words, “No one was in charge of coordination among intelligence agencies.” That was true, but only because George Tenet much preferred to cavort with foreign potentates and thugs, than to do the job of Director of Central Intelligence (DCI).