The Republican chairman of the Senate intelligence committee unveiled a proposal Sunday to remove most of the nation's major intelligence-gathering operations from the CIA and Pentagon and place them directly under the control of a new national intelligence director.
The plan, announced by Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., and endorsed by seven other committee Republicans, is more severe than the reorganization proposed last month by the Sept. 11 commission and would result in the virtual dismantling of the CIA. It also would severely curb the power and influence of the Defense Department, which controls the bulk of the federal classified intelligence budget.
...[W]hile the White House indicated it would study the proposal, an intelligence official Sunday said the plan "makes no sense" and would cause more problems than it would solve.
"Rather than eliminating stovepipes, this will create more of them," said the official, requesting anonymity.
"Rather than bringing intelligence disciplines together, it smashes them apart. . . . This proposal is unworkable and would hamper rather than enhance the nation's intelligence operations."
The plan was welcomed by the campaign of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, who has endorsed the changes advocated by the Sept. 11 commission, including creation of a national intelligence director.
...In outlining the proposal, Roberts said, "No one agency, no matter how distinguished its history, is more important than U.S. national security." The paper also said: "We are not abolishing the CIA. We are reordering and renaming its three major elements."
But the senior intelligence official said that little would be left at the CIA under the plan. "That's exactly what it would do: demolish the agency," the official said. "This goes way beyond anything reasonable."
Arizona Republic article
The plan, announced by Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., and endorsed by seven other committee Republicans, is more severe than the reorganization proposed last month by the Sept. 11 commission and would result in the virtual dismantling of the CIA. It also would severely curb the power and influence of the Defense Department, which controls the bulk of the federal classified intelligence budget.
...[W]hile the White House indicated it would study the proposal, an intelligence official Sunday said the plan "makes no sense" and would cause more problems than it would solve.
"Rather than eliminating stovepipes, this will create more of them," said the official, requesting anonymity.
"Rather than bringing intelligence disciplines together, it smashes them apart. . . . This proposal is unworkable and would hamper rather than enhance the nation's intelligence operations."
The plan was welcomed by the campaign of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, who has endorsed the changes advocated by the Sept. 11 commission, including creation of a national intelligence director.
...In outlining the proposal, Roberts said, "No one agency, no matter how distinguished its history, is more important than U.S. national security." The paper also said: "We are not abolishing the CIA. We are reordering and renaming its three major elements."
But the senior intelligence official said that little would be left at the CIA under the plan. "That's exactly what it would do: demolish the agency," the official said. "This goes way beyond anything reasonable."
I'm all for abolishing the CIA, but wouldn't it simply be shifting the power to another group?
I certainly can't make any comments on the reasonableness or the value of any of these bureaucratic reconfigurations, because I don't know enough about their structures. The scrapping and scraping for ultimate power, though, is a sight to behold, isn't it?
....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments are moderated. There may be some delay before your comment is published. It all depends on how much time M has in the day. But please comment!