WSJ: Meet the Nidniks -- Washington gets another intelligence bureaucracy. Great.

Wall Street Journal ^ | December 9, 2004 | Editorial

[OESY]

...Crowning all of this will be the office of the National Intelligence Director. In theory, the job of the NID... will... oversee and coordinate the work of the CIA, FBI, NSA and DIA. In practice, it probably means one of the following two things:

1) NID becomes another layer of the permanent Washington bureaucracy.... Eventually it is co-opted by one of them, probably the CIA, which provides the NID with most of his personnel.

Or (2) NID becomes another layer of the permanent Washington bureaucracy. The office accretes staff and influence. It interposes itself between the President and his intelligence-gatherers. It imposes more conformity on intelligence estimates, not less, and prevents competing views from reaching the President.

Note that in neither scenario is something useful accomplished. No spy satellite is boosted into orbit. Nobody is taught to speak Urdu, Farsi, Pashtun or Arabic. No intelligence assets are recruited in Iran or Syria or any other country that actually threatens us.

What we get instead are some small new rules (such as minimum-sentencing guidelines for trafficking in anti-aircraft missiles); a redundant counterterrorism bureau; a modified organizational flow chart in the executive branch; and a new Beltway big shot, who might be an asset to the President, but no more so than a competent Director of Central Intelligence. Congress, you will not be surprised to learn, escapes with only the barest self-reform.

As for the politics, this legislation now takes its place alongside other Administration cave-ins....

Instead of joining the Congressional stampede, the President could easily have put the legislation on ice until the March release of his own Robb-Silberman Commission's report on intelligence reform.... The stall would have had the added virtue of being the right thing to do....

[ELS]

What is the Web site with login names & passwords for those of us who don't want to register or join every newspaper with a "gate"?

[KarlInOhio]

It is www.bugmenot.com but they don't have the WSJ because it is a pay site.

[ravingnutter]

Instead of joining the Congressional stampede, the President could easily have put the legislation on ice until the March release of his own Robb-Silberman Commission's report on intelligence reform.... The stall would have had the added virtue of being the right thing to do....

Ri-i-i-ight...and listen to the 9/11 widows, who are not bipartisan in the least < /sarcasm>, whine for the next 4 months on every TV show they can that Bush is doing absolutely nothing to implement the recommendations of the Commission.

[WilliamofCarmichael]

Laura Ingraham was making jokes about the nid. No, national security is not a joke.. but this whole hubbub -- including ABC radio "news" breathless reporting that we are all safe now and WTC victims' relatives suddenly elevated to natinoal security expert status -- is like something out of Monty Python.

"The nid! Run away! Run away!"

[rellimpank]

---he could have got on the tube , explained this, vetoed it and gained even more political clout.

Sort of like what he should have done with McCain-Feingold--vetoed it on national TV with a highlighted copy of the First Amendment behind him on the wall--

[Txslady]

Juet read it Oesy, great article! Thanks for posting it!

Ag - I think this needs your cow posted to it. :o)

Good morning, btw!

[Gritty]

As for the politics, this legislation now takes its place alongside other Administration cave-ins....

*sigh*

[ArrogantBustard]

.Crowning all of this will be the office of the National Intelligence Director. In theory, the job of the NID.

NID, fer cryin' out loud????

[Vn_survivor_67-68]

worse yet, this will morph into our very own KGB.....

[asgardshill]

Yeah, those mokes are everywhere. But if their eyes glow and they start talking in a funny voice, its REALLY time to worry.

[FreedomCalls]

FYI, The WSJ editorials are released without a login needed 24 hours after they are posted. You can read yesterday's today, just not today's.

[ELS]

Thanks. I had seen that posted on another thread. I will bookmark it now.

Sometimes one can read the WSJ editorials at http://www.opinionjournal.com/

[FreedomCalls]

Actually he is going to be called the "Director of National Intelligence", or DNI. Which I guess will be pronounced "NI" as in "The Knights who say NI."

Knights Who Say "Ni": Ni... ni... ni... ni.
Arthur: Who are you?
Head Knight: We are the Knights Who Say "Ni."
Arthur: No... not The Knights Who Say "Ni!"
Head Knight: The same.

[FreedomCalls]

Here's a link to the Google groups version so you can read the whole thing there.

[ELS]

Cool. Is that the usenet feature of Google groups? Google is really coming up with some uesful applications of their search technology.

[bvw]

Dubya's favortire tactic seems to be giving your enemies all the rope and ammo they whine for. And then they go and hang themselves whilst blowing off a few of their own toes.

[FreedomCalls]

Is that the usenet feature of Google groups?

Yep. They have the whole Usenet archive online. I can search on my name and find stuff I posted back in 1997!

[rmmcdaniell]

Dubya's favortire tactic seems to be giving your enemies all the rope and ammo they whine for. And then they go and hang themselves whilst blowing off a few of their own toes.

Sacrificing our freedom for short-term political gain. What a disgusting president we have.

[Eva]

Opinion Journal is free and well worth registering for the Best of the Web feature which is posted daily around noon on the west coast.