Spy Czar Must Have Clout
The Denver Post
August 8, 2004

Whether it's Denver, Colorado or Washington, D.C., those who are involved with government have a great nose for power. They have to. Knowing who has real power is key to their success. Titles don't necessarily tell you much about power. Far more important is who has access to the most powerful people and who has control over the money. That's why President Bush's proposal to have an intelligence overseer who is outside the White House, without budget authority, is a huge mistake. After all, the most important power center in the world is the White House. If you really want to change what goes on in our intelligence establishment, you put that person there.

Let's take a look at how this works. When I was a U.S. ambassador, I worked inside the State Department. But, I was a presidential appointee and I worked closely with powerful people at the White House. Every time State Department professionals threw a roadblock in my way, all I had to say was that I would discuss it with the White House. The roadblock always went away.

I've worked with bureaucrats in state and federal government as both an appointed and elected official. They are smart, dedicated, extremely knowledgeable people who have the best interests of their state and country at heart. They also have a big stake in the status quo because that is what they know, how they've been successful, and what provides security for their future. Most of them resist change fiercely, as we are seeing now in the intelligence community.

National intelligence is a crazy quilt of agencies spread across the federal government. There is intense rivalry over authority and money. The budget is classified, so only a few people even know how much our intelligence operations cost. Within the Pentagon alone, there are numerous intelligence agencies and activities. Among the more notable intelligence organizations are the CIA, the National Security Agency, the National Reconnaissance Office, and the Defense Intelligence Agency. That doesn't even include the FBI, National Security Council, Department of Homeland Security or intelligence units in many other federal departments. The Defense Department controls most of the money spent on intelligence. Thus, the Director of Central Intelligence (the head of the CIA) and the Secretary of Defense tend to jockey for power, including access to the President and to the money.

That's why the 9/11 Commission recommended so strongly that the President name a National Intelligence Director to unify the far-flung intelligence agencies. They specifically recommended this office be lodged in the Executive Office of the President, for obvious reasons. If the National Intelligence Director is in the White House, with access to the President, with budget authority over all the nation's intelligence activities as the key to forcing cooperation and coordination, he or she will truly have the power to reform the intelligence apparatus. Without those key tools, the office will be toothless, ignored by all the intelligence players. We will continue on our outmoded path, better known for its conflicts and rivalries than its intelligence successes.

It's not that those in the intelligence community don't want to do their best for their country. But, they do understand power. They do understand turf. And they do understand how both affect them. They know who has the President's ear and who is an outsider in the halls of power. They know who controls the purse. They also know that a title alone is meaningless. A new National Intelligence Director in name only will ensure they continue doing just what they've always done. And that hasn't worked.

President Bush can change the way we manage intelligence. But, if he only pays lip service to the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, he will fail to shift power from the contentious crowd to one person who could instill a true sense of community into the intelligence domain. The National Intelligence Director must be in the nation's power center for all to see. That's the only way we can ensure our intelligence apparatus really does the job of protecting America. We cannot afford a Presidential mistake on something so important to us all.