Description
The commission to investigate the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States issued its final report in July of 2004, in which it recommended a dramatic overhaul of the nation's intelligence system. Congress responded by hastily enacting the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, which adopts many of the 9/11 commission's specific recommendations, though with a number of alterations. Richard A. Posner, in the first full-length study of the post-9/11 movement for intelligence reform, argues that the 9/11 commission's analysis, on which Congress relied, was superficial and its organizational proposals unsound. The commission, followed by Congress, exaggerated the benefits of centralizing control over intelligence; neglected the relevant scholarship dealing with surprise attacks, organization theory, the principles of intelligence, and the experience of foreign nations, some of which have a longer history of fighting terrorism than the United States; and as a result ignored the psychological, economic, historical, sociological, and comparative dimensions of the issue of intelligence reform.
Posner explains, however, that a ray of hope remains: the reorganization provisions of the new Act are so vague, as a result of intense politicking, that the actual shape of the reorganized system will depend critically on decisions made by the President in implementing the Act. In a searing critique, Posner exposes the pitfalls created by the new legislation, identifies the issues overlooked by the 9/11 commission and Congress, and suggests directions for real reform.
This book is published in cooperation with the Hoover Institution
Table of Contents
Part 2 Introduction
Part 3 Part I: From the 9/11 Commission's Report to the Intelligence Reform Act
Chapter 4 1. The Commission's Organizational Recommendations
Chapter 5 2. The Congressional Response
Part 6 Part II: Toward the Optimal Organization of the U.S. Intelligence System
Chapter 7 3. The History and Anatomy of Successful Surprise Attacks
Chapter 8 4. The Principles of Intelligence
Chapter 9 5. The Principles of Organization
Chapter 10 6. Lessons from the Organization of Intelligence in Other Countries
Part 11 Conclusion: What Is to Be Done?
Product details
| Published | 22 Mar 2005 |
|---|---|
| Format | Ebook (Epub & Mobi) |
| Edition | 1st |
| Extent | 226 |
| ISBN | 9781461666059 |
| Imprint | Rowman & Littlefield Publishers |
| Series | Hoover Studies in Politics, Economics, and Society |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
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