9/11 Commission Cracks the Whip

Posted on July 23, 2004

Well, the bipartisan 9/11 Commission released its report and it's a doozy. Available for download free online, or in bookstores for $10, the Report is an interesting mix of history, analysis and recommendations for the future. For the most part, it avoids placing blame for 9/11 one any one party or or person. But it does detail a number of missed opportunities during both the Clinton and Bush Administrations.

The report also lists a number of changes that it recommends be implemented by the government. The five major areas of change are:

unifying strategic intelligence and operational planning against Islamist terrorists across the foreign-domestic divide with a National Counterterrorism Center;

unifying the intelligence community with a new National Intelligence Director;

unifying the many participants in the counterterrorism effort and their knowledge in a network-based information-sharing system that transcends traditional governmental boundaries;

unifying and strengthening congressional oversight to improve quality and accountability; and

strengthening the FBI and homeland defenders.

Many of these changes can be made by executive order by the President. Some must be implemented by Congress. For example, the Report calls for more oversight of the intelligence agencies and their budgets by a new joint House and Senate Intelligence Committee.

The Commission has made it clear that it wants action -- now. The strongly worded statements by Chairman Kean scared the heck out of everybody. �An attack of even greater magnitude is possible and even probable,� he said. �We don�t have the luxury of TIME.� Yikes! Senator Joe Lieberman and others have cut their traditional August vacations short to start work on this important work for our country's future safety.

Of course, there is nothing guaranteed to generate a turf war than Congress suddenly demanding more oversight of the CIA, NSA and other security organizations. So far, President Bush has been non-committal about the recommendations, saying he must study the issues first. Presidential candidate John Kerry has endorsed the idea of a new intelligence czar, which the acting head of the CIA bitterly opposes.

The Committee has announced that it will release four more reports in the future and will also give a report in a year or so as to how the government is doing on implementing the changes it recommended. This bipartisan committee has worked incredibly long, hard hours and has given us a report that is as non-political as it is possible -- no easy task, given the polarized political environment.

So, kudos are in order to the 9/11 Commission for a job well-done.