Senate Republicans Weigh Dismantling CIA

JME2 · Post by **JME2** » 2004-08-22 02:00pm

Here[/url]

JME2 · Post by **JME2** » 2004-08-22 02:02pm

Let me try the link again:

Here

Ender · Post by **Ender** » 2004-08-22 02:11pm

In a Senate Armed Services Committee (news - web sites) hearing last week, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld advised moving cautiously in restructuring the intelligence community.

And Rummy is agaisnt a move that would take away a big chunk of his power and give it to a new cabinet position. I'm fucking shocked.

"Yeah, fuck the safety of everyday Americans, it means I'm not as powerful and important!"

Iceberg · Post by **Iceberg** » 2004-08-22 02:11pm

Let's see here... take three units within one agency and make them into three separate agencies, in a government intelligence system where interagency communication has never been a strong suit.

Yes, this sounds like a good idea.

J · Post by J » 2004-08-22 02:29pm

So let me get this straight, they want to fragment intelligence gathering and split it among twice as many departments & agencies? That's a recipe for losing intelligence reports and inter-agency infighting if I ever saw one, if anything they should be centralizing ops, for instance combining the NSA and the NRO since they're both mostly tech based.

Iceberg · Post by **Iceberg** » 2004-08-22 02:32pm

Wait a minute... wasn't it the Republicans who were accusing the Democrats of trying to cripple the intelligence agencies?

RedImperator · Post by **RedImperator** » 2004-08-22 02:44pm

On the other hand, centralizing intelligence in one or a few agencies creates a lot of chokepoints and single points of failure, and tends to stifle dissent and enrouage "groupthink". There's no solution that doesn't have tradeoffs.

Joe · Post by **Joe** » 2004-08-22 02:52pm

Actually, I believe they're following through on the 9/11 Commission's recommendations.

Lonestar · Post by **Lonestar** » 2004-08-23 01:49am

jmac wrote:So let me get this straight, they want to fragment intelligence gathering and split it among twice as many departments & agencies? That's a recipe for losing intelligence reports and inter-agency infighting if I ever saw one, if anything they should be centralizing ops, for instance combining the NSA and the NRO since they're both mostly tech based.

As a Navy CT, I have this to say:

No. Hell no. If they want to dismantle those idiots over at the CIA, more power to them. But don't fuck with something that isn't broken.

(except add more translators)

Gil Hamilton · Post by **Gil Hamilton** » 2004-08-23 06:59am

RedImperator wrote:On the other hand, centralizing intelligence in one or a few agencies creates a lot of chokepoints and single points of failure, and tends to stifle dissent and enrouage "groupthink". There's no solution that doesn't have tradeoffs.

I'm not sure creating three bureaucracies to replace one is a very good trade off. As my sociology teacher once said "Two bureaucracies trying to work together is four times less effective than one working alone."