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New National Intelligence Director May Hinder Military Efforts, U.S. Defense Officials Say By Mike Nartker WASHINGTON — U.S. defense officials warned yesterday of the possible negative impacts of the creation of a national director of intelligence, saying that changes to the current relationship between the intelligence community and the Defense Department could damage the ability of military commanders to receive information (see GSN, Aug. 11). In testimony before the House Armed Services Committee, defense officials praised the “partnership” that exists between the director of central intelligence and the defense secretary. The Pentagon controls a number of intelligence agencies also used by the director of central intelligence, including the Defense Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency and the National Geospatial Agency. The Sept. 11 commission has recommended that a director of national intelligence be created to oversee all U.S. national intelligence agencies, including those controlled by the Pentagon. To aid the national director, a deputy intelligence director would be created that would also serve as defense undersecretary for intelligence. Defense Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence Stephen Cambone told the committee yesterday that if a national intelligence director was created as recommended by the Sept. 11 commission, the Pentagon would “salute smartly and make it happen.” He also said, though, that the department would need to know that the new director would not adversely effect military operations. “If it is decided that there is a better way to arrange ourselves, overall, then we will do so. But, we will have to come back and reconfigure that relationship, so that there is an assurance that the support that's going to be needed for the warfighter will be there when he picks up the phone and seeks it,” Cambone said. One concern, according to defense officials, is that the new national intelligence director would hinder the ability of battlefield commanders to quickly receive intelligence. “There is always a concern that we add bureaucracy that does not allow us to get immediate information,” said Army Maj. Gen. Raymond Odierno, former commander of the 4th Infantry Division. “The bottom line is, at the tactical level, you’ve got to have immediate access,” he added. In a separate hearing of the House intelligence committee yesterday, Sept. 11 commission Vice Chairman Lee Hamilton reiterated that the panel’s recommendations did not include changes to tactical intelligence. As envisioned by the commission, agencies responsible for such information would remains solely under the defense secretary. “Now let me be clear, the warfighter must have tactical intelligence support. Our report takes no issue with tactical support,” Hamilton said. “We want to protect that war-maker, but we also want to protect the American citizen. And that’s the problem that we’re addressing here, where you have to balance the needs here of the warfighter and the national policy-maker. And it’s not an easy thing to do,” he added. Odierno told the Armed Services Committee, though, that the line between “strategic” and “tactical” intelligence has become increasingly blurred. “Something that might be up here in Washington, D.C., and information might not be important could be extremely important on the ground to those soldiers. And so we’ve got to have a system where people can interact and that all of that data is available to us,” he said. Several committee members echoed the defense officials’ concerns. “Transferring DOD national intelligence capabilities to an outside entity could end up dulling our military edge, which would ultimately make us less secure,” committee Chairman Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) said. “I think it’s important to make sure … as we put together legislation we don’t inadvertently put together a package that goes against those good intentions of keeping the warfighter as effective as possible,” he said.
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