WSJ: Intelligent Delay -- Giving CIA reform a little more thought.

Wall Street Journal ^ | November 16, 2004 | Editorial

[OESY]

...Duncan Hunter, ...the House Armed Services Chairman, is refusing to join the Beltway stampede to pass, in a few short weeks, the most extensive changes in U.S. intelligence in 50 years.

...The Senate and House each passed bills in the heat (and panic) of the election campaign....

Mr. Hunter specifically objects to a provision that would take budget authority away from the Secretary of Defense over the intelligence agencies under his control. This is a narrow but important issue. It would potentially undercut the military's ability to obtain and act on intelligence in real time....

There are other problems with this legislation that would reshape the 15 intelligence agencies and create a new director of national intelligence. Not least is that Porter Goss has just taken over as CIA director with a mandate to quell the anti-Bush insurgency there and restore its culture of risk-taking....

Mr. Goss is right to try to re-focus the agency back on the task of gathering information, leaving policy-setting to the White House and its appointees.

[T]he senior CIA officer Michael Scheuer -- aka "Anonymous" ...has been everywhere in recent months flogging his book attacking U.S. antiterror strategy.... One of George Tenet's last (and overdue) acts as CIA director had been to forbid Mr. Scheuer from speaking publicly....

We'd have thought the White House would at least insist that Congress pass no reform until it also agrees to fix its own intelligence-review process. The 9/11 Commission had several such suggestions, but, in its wisdom and self-regard, Congress has decided to ignore most of those and rearrange the executive branch instead. Suffice it to say, the chance for any Congressional reform will vanish if the current bill becomes law.

[Max Combined]

I am glad they did not pass anything before the election. Better to take their time and do it right.

[pissant]

Yes do it right. But purge the clintonistas out of there ASAP.

[Grampa Dave]

"Yes do it right. But purge the clintonistas out of there ASAP."

The most dangerous may be the Carteristas and anyone hired by them or promoted by them.

They are like a clone of a tapeworm/leech. They are in high level positions, and they have been doing damage to America and our intel for decades.

They will be the ones bitching and moaning to the Compost and NY Slimes.

Then take out the Clintonistas or any of them who have caused severe problems.