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Younghusband
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Younghusband

Date

September 2nd, 2006

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Two words on civvie INT orgs

In reaction to Dave Schuler’s suggestion that since the CIA bureaucracy cannot be reformed, it should be “abolished and its functions placed completely under the Pentagon,” Zenpundit has a couple of words defending the civilian intelligence capability. Here’s a taste:

The military, for demographic reasons as well as those of institutional culture or focus, is not the ideal candidate for all of these missions. … Nor am I, for reasons of bureaucratic checks and balance, eager to place all of America’s foreign intelligence in the hands of a single member of the Cabinet.

Some interesting converstion has ensued. My comment :

I wouldn’t send the CIA back to the OSS simply for the reason that military INT and civvie INT are two completely different beasts. The military would have no foxtrotting idea what to do. There is definitely a role for a civilian int agency. MI5, CSIS, etc have a lot of flexibility that law enforcement agencies like the FBI don’t have. Another important tool in the belt.

Comments to this entry

Dave Schuler
September 2, 2006
1:34 pm
My remarks should be considered in context. Lehman was complaining about the additional layer of bureaucracy that had been added. I observed that bureaucracies were, by their nature, irreformable. That left only a handful of alternatives: leaving things as they were (obviously ineffective), adding an additional layer (what the Administration did and what Lehman was complaining about), creating an additional intelligence agency (fiscally irresponsible and setting the stage for interagency squabbles—exactly with the 9/11 Commission was trying to avoid), or abolishing the existing agency and putting the function under Defense. I suggested the last as the least worst alternative.
Dr. Alfred Russel Wallace
September 2, 2006
2:33 pm
Kaplan's, Barnett's and others' suggestions that the US Military would be mightily enhanced if successful rotations in all branches of the military were essential for promotion to the upper echelons might also apply here. It certainly works well in Industry. Expecting that senior members of the Intelligence community have spent time in civilian and military duties might help erase at least some of the "Ëœsilo mentality' and "Ëœturf war' issues that bedevil the current situation.
mark safranski
September 4, 2006
5:59 am
Much thanks for the link and the comment !