National Intelligence Director

[Bozo Erectus]

Really, all the NID position means is that at Cabinet meetings, the president would have the latest information from ALL of the myriad intelligence agencies at his disposal in the person of the NID. Whats wrong with that?

 

[IglooDame]

Really, all the NID position means is that at Cabinet meetings, the president would have the latest information from ALL of the myriad intelligence agencies at his disposal in the person of the NID. Whats wrong with that?

First of all, point of clarification: AFAIK they don't talk about the hardcore intelligence and reactions to it at cabinet meetings; I don't think some of the cabinet members are cleared for Way Beyond Top Secret stuff. I think it is National Security Council meetings. As always, please correct me if I'm wrong.

Second: intelligence in general is one-quarter data and three-quarters analysis. I'd prefer that the President get different analyses from the same data, rather than that NID determining what to report.

 

[Bozo Erectus]

First of all, point of clarification: AFAIK they don't talk about the hardcore intelligence and reactions to it at cabinet meetings; I don't think some of the cabinet members are cleared for Way Beyond Top Secret stuff. I think it is National Security Council meetings. As always, please correct me if I'm wrong.

Membership of the National Security Council
The National Security Council is chaired by the President. Its regular attendees (both statutory and non-statutory) are the Vice President, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Defense, and the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is the statutory military advisor to the Council, and the Director of Central Intelligence is the intelligence advisor. The Chief of Staff to the President, Counsel to the President, and the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy are invited to attend any NSC meeting. The Attorney General and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget are invited to attend meetings pertaining to their responsibilities. The heads of other executive departments and agencies, as well as other senior officials, are invited to attend meetings of the NSC when appropriate.

National Security Council's Function
The National Security Council is the President's principal forum for considering national security and foreign policy matters with his senior national security advisors and cabinet officials. Since its inception under President Truman, the function of the Council has been to advise and assist the President on national security and foreign policies. The Council also serves as the President's principal arm for coordinating these policies among various government agencies.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/nsc/
I think the main change should be that the NID sits in the CIA directors chair, representing all the intelligence services, and the CIA director concentrates exclusively on running the CIA.

 

[IglooDame]

http://www.whitehouse.gov/nsc/
I think the main change should be that the NID sits in the CIA directors chair, representing all the intelligence services, and the CIA director concentrates exclusively on running the CIA.

Thanks for the information - I was essentially correct, it appears.

Would the Director of Central Intelligence be subordinate to the National Intelligence Director?

 

[The Last Conformist]

Why am I reminded of Parkinson's Law?

 

[Bozo Erectus]

Would the Director of Central Intelligence be subordinate to the National Intelligence Director?

I guess, and so would the FBI director and all the other spooks. Tom Ridge the DHS director is left in limbo, spinning a color wheel and shouting "BOO!" every few days.

 

[Bozo Erectus]

Why am I reminded of Parkinson's Law?

Whats that? Does it have anything to do with Katherine Hepburn?

 

[IglooDame]

Whats that? Does it have anything to do with Katherine Hepburn?

"Work expands to fill (and often exceed) the time allowed." -- Parkinson's Law

A National Intelligence Director and a Central Intelligence Director probably trip off some other Dilbertish thoughts, too.

 

[The Last Conformist]

Whats that? Does it have anything to do with Katherine Hepburn?

Katherine Hepburn? Not that I know.

Parkinson's Law says that if you hire a new guy to help out a new guy whose responsibilities have grown beyond what can handled by one man, that's gonna lead to the hiring of a further five people.

The reasoning is as follows: You cannot be one person's boss - that person will invariably end up a de facto equal*. Therefore, you have to hire two assistants for the old guy. This creates so much extra paperwork that the assistants need assistants - two each of course. Thus, adding one guy to do some actual work leads to adding five guys for organizational support.

This is of course a pretty extreme overstatement of the real situation, but it does capture an important part of why bureaucracies tend to grow without bound.

* The exception is when the underling is somehow intrinsically inferior; black servant to white master, female secratary to male manager. Modern societal developments have been more damaging to this escape from Parkinson's Law.

 

[The Last Conformist]

Ah, xpost with IglooDude. Seems like there are two Parkinson's Laws ...

 

[Bozo Erectus]

Well whatever Parkinsons law is, you both agree that its bad.