Large-Scale Intelligence Reforms Needed, Sept. 11 Commission Says in Report

By Mike Nartker
Global Security Newswire

WASHINGTON — The U.S. commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks yesterday recommended several sweeping intelligence reform measures, as well as changes to how Congress oversees the U.S. intelligence community (see GSN, July 21).

President George W. Bush and former President Bill Clinton were not well served by intelligence prior to the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, commission Chairman Thomas Kean said yesterday.

“Having read every single presidential daily briefing having anything to do with this subject under two administrations, I can tell you that the two presidents of the United States were not well served by those [intelligence] agencies and they did not, in my opinion, have the information they needed to make the decisions they had to make,” he said during a press conference to release the commission’s report of its findings.

In its report, the commission recommended the creation of a National Counterterrorism Center on the “foundation” of the existing Terrorist Threat Integration Center, which is responsible for analyzing terrorism-related information. The proposed center would be responsible for both joint foreign and domestic intelligence and operational planning efforts. The head of new center, who would be appointed by the president and would have the rank equivalent to a deputy Cabinet secretary, would also have input into the selection of personnel to lead counterterrorism efforts of various government agencies.

The commission also recommended the creation of a national director of intelligence to oversee the various intelligence agencies. In its report, the commission listed several flaws in the current structure of the intelligence community that prompted the need for such a director, including structural barriers to joint efforts, divided management of intelligence capabilities and the weak capability of the director of the CIA to set intelligence priorities and shift resources.

According to the commission’s report, the new director would oversee several national intelligence centers that would focus on specific subjects, such as the proposed National Counterterrorism Center and centers responsible for areas such as weapons of mass destruction, drug trafficking and regional issues. The national intelligence director, who would work within the executive office, would also be responsible for submitting a unified intelligence budget and would be involved in selecting the heads of various intelligence-related agencies. 

Commission Vice Chairman Lee Hamilton said yesterday that the commission’s recommendations were important to ensure “unity of effort” within the intelligence community.

In addition to structural changes within the intelligence community, the commission called on the CIA director to improve the agency’s analytic capabilities, human intelligence capabilities, diversity of agents and agents’ language skills. 

The commission did not recommend in its report the creation of a new domestic intelligence agency, as some have proposed. Instead, it said that the FBI should develop “a specialized and integrated national security work force” to help improve the bureau’s intelligence capabilities. 

The commission also recommended that overall amounts of funding appropriated to national intelligence and intelligence agencies should no longer be kept secret. Congress should also draft an intelligence appropriations bill separate from those departments’ parent agencies, according to the report.

Bush yesterday praised the Sept. 11 commission’s efforts.

“I appreciate the hard work of the commission and the spirit in which their recommendations are written. We will give serious consideration to every idea because we share a common goal:  to do everything in our power to prepare for and to stop any terrorist attack,” he said during a campaign stop in Glenview, Ill.

Bush also said that the commission’s recommendations were “consistent with the strategy my administration is following to address these failings and to win the war on terrorism.”

Bush said he agreed with the commission’s recommendations to improve coordination between intelligence agencies, as well as to improve human and technological intelligence capabilities. The president did not address, though, commission calls for structural changes to the intelligence community.

In a press statement yesterday, acting CIA Director John McLaughlin said that the agency would consider the commission’s recommendations, but also noted the progress made in improving intelligence since the Sept. 11 attacks.

“We will consider how these conclusions and recommendations can enhance the many changes that have been made since the 9/11 attacks — changes that have not only transformed the intelligence community’s collection, operational, and analytic capabilities in the war on terrorism, but have also strengthened our government’s ability to deal with the threat to our homeland,” he said.

U.S. Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.), Bush’s anticipated challenger in the November presidential election, said yesterday that the commission’s report indicates that the United States is still not safe from future attacks.

“Nearly three years after terrorists attacked our shores and murdered our loved ones, this report carries a simple message about our current state of security for every American who remembers that dark September day: We can do better. We must do better.  And it’s time to act — now,” he said in a statement, promising to implement intelligence reforms if elected.

The proposal for the creation of a national intelligence director has received increasing attention following the release of a report earlier this month by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, which criticized the intelligence community’s performance regarding prewar Iraq’s alleged WMD efforts. Legislation to create such a position has been introduced in both houses of Congress and the proposal has received bipartisan support. While the White House has yet to comment on the merits of the proposal, some senior Bush administration officials, such as McLaughlin and Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, say the measure would add needless bureaucracy.

During interviews today, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice refused to answer questions as to whether Bush would support the creation of an intelligence “czar.”

“The president is a man of action. I think he will want to be decisive.  But we have to be responsible, too, and ask questions as to what this would do to improve our collection, to improve our analysis, to improve our priority-setting, to improve the setting of requirements,” Rice said on CBS’ Early Show.

In addition to reforms of the intelligence community, the commission called for changes in the way Congress oversees intelligence and homeland security efforts and warned that under the current structure “the American people will not get the security they want and need.” 

In response, the commission recommended the creation of either a joint committee between the House of Representatives and the Senate or the creation of a committee in each house of Congress with both funding appropriation and authorization authority to oversee intelligence. The new committees should be smaller in membership than those that currently exist, and should also have subpoena authority and a dedicated oversight subcommittee, according to the report. In addition, members of the new intelligence committees should be allowed to serve indefinitely, the report says.

The commission also called for the creation of permanent standing committees in both houses of Congress responsible for homeland security. Currently, there is only a select homeland security committee in the House of Representatives. 

Sept. 11 commission member Bob Kerry warned yesterday of the potential bureaucratic disputes within Congress that such proposals could bring.

“In my experience in politics, when somebody’s asked to give up something they will come up with all kinds of reasons other than the most important one, which is they don’t want to surrender authority, to cite for why they won’t want to do it. And I am hopeful that the circumstances surrounding this commission will cause Congress to act differently, but I am not optimistic,” said Kerry, a former Democratic senator from Nebraska.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) said Wednesday that “institutional inertia” could block changes within Congress.

“If we’re going to … respond and improve, we are going to have the challenge of overcoming the institutional inertia which is a product of a lot of what we have in Washington, D.C., and that’s going to be the challenge for us as leaders,” Frist said following an advance briefing on the commission’s report.

While agreeing that there would likely be “pretty stiff resistance” for structural changes, Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) said yesterday that such measures could be implemented.

“I really believe that with this coalition and the individuals behind me, who have gained national and international credibility, that we’ll be able to overcome it,” McCain said alongside several other Democratic and Republican senators.

House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Porter Goss (R-Fla.) yesterday, though, defended his committee’s oversight performance.

“In terms of all of the oversight advice and guidance and help in the inquiries we’ve had around the globe, from evolving nations and entrusted allies who have been around a long time, there’s no other place to go. We may not be perfect, but we’re the best that's available,” said Goss, who is reportedly among the possible administration choices for a permanent CIA director.

Following the release of their report yesterday, members of the Sept. 11 commission called on the administration and Congress to quickly implement their recommendations.

“If these reforms are not the best that can be done for the American people, then the Congress and the president need to tell us what’s better. But if there is nothing better, they need to be enacted, and enacted speedily, because if something bad happens while these recommendations are sitting there, the American people will quickly fix political responsibility for failure, and that responsibility may last for generations,” commissioner James Thompson said.

House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) said yesterday that he would call on relevant House committee chairmen to hold hearings on the commission’s recommendations “over the next several months.” Saying that little would likely be done this year, Hastert warned against acting too quickly.

“Anything that we’re going to do is going to be deliberate and not rushed. We’re going to make sure it really solves problems,” he said.

In the Senate, McCain said yesterday that he would like to see possible action on the commission’s recommendation “as early as possible next year.” Senator Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.), though, called on congressional leaders yesterday to call a special session to seek to enact legislation on the commission’s recommendations before the end of the year. 

“This is not an ordinary matter we’re talking about. The national security of the United States, the lives of the American people are on the line,” Lieberman said.

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