Defense, CIA chiefs say progress made

WASHINGTON – The government’s top Defense and intelligence officials urged caution Tuesday in overhauling the nation’s intelligence hierarchy in response to a damning report from the 9-11 commission.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and acting CIA Director John McLaughlin did not directly answer questions at a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee about whether the country should have a national director of intelligence. But both emphasized that the government needs to ensure that any changes don’t hinder the military’s access to intelligence in wartime or create unnecessary layers of bureaucracy.

President Bush has endorsed the 9-11 commission’s recommendation, issued in a report July 22, that Congress create the intelligence czar position to fix shortcomings that preceded the Sept. 11 attacks.

McLaughlin said an expanded bureaucracy might not help.

“First,” McLaughlin said, “speed and agility are the keys to the war on terrorism, and profoundly important to the nation’s other intelligence challenges.”

The acting CIA director, who took over when George Tenet resigned before the commission’s report was made public, told the committee that intelligence agencies had made remarkable progress in overcoming many of the problems that the 9-11 commission said handicapped the nation’s ability to detect and deter terrorist plots.

“The image that many seek to perpetuate of a community that does not share information or work together, a community of turf-conscious people competing for influence – that is not the community I lead,” McLaughlin said.

Rumsfeld, whose sprawling department stands to lose the most influence in any reorganization of U.S. intelligence leadership, suggested the government move with “deliberate speed” to make changes.

He noted that post-World War II reforms of the military occurred incrementally over decades.

“I come to this subject with a healthy respect for the magnitude of the task our country is tackling,” Rumsfeld said. “I also come to it with an adage in mind that I find useful: ‘To those who would tear down what is, falls the responsibility of putting in place something better.’ “

The Pentagon controls about 85 percent of the estimated $40 billion annual spending on U.S. spy operations. Several key intelligence organizations, including the Defense Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency, are under the Defense secretary’s control.

Congress must decide what authority a national intelligence director would have. Among the questions being debated: Should the director have budget-setting authority for all intelligence agencies? Should the director have a say in appointing or approving key leaders of all the agencies?

Rumsfeld declined to comment specifically on many of the 9-11 commission’s proposals, saying they are still under study.