Does The US Need So Many Intelligence Agencies?

[Sprayber]

This thought came out of the blue while I was looking at wiki on a Brit show I was watching. Spooks. While looking at the various British Intelligence Agencies I decide to look at the number of US agencies and was appalled to find 16 of them. Not to mention the number we may not know about. Do we really need that many?

each branch of the military has one. The Department of Energy has one (nuclear related I assume? ) But seriously 16?

Could an argument be made that the more people watching the greater chance of catching something or perhaps preventing one agency from being too powerful?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_intelligence_agencies

[Drake Tungsten]

No.

[Arrian]

I does seem absurd. But then we're talking about the US government here.

-Arrian

[Patroklos]

Whats more absurd is when this very problem of duplication was discovered or rather exposed by the 9/11 commission, what was their response? They created another one, and then added another tier at that

[Arrian]

Yeah, wasn't Homeland Security supposed to consolidate this stuff? Apparently it was just added on top?

-Arrian

[Patroklos]

Correct. Correct.

Whats more, all of those agencies still report to who they did before for the most part, only now they also report to Homeland Security.

[Drake Tungsten]

Correct. Correct.

No.

Whats more, all of those agencies still report to who they did before for the most part, only now they also report to Homeland Security.

Incorrect; they all report to the new Director of National Intelligence. Homeland Security is just one department among many.

[MrFun]

I does seem absurd. But then we're talking about the US government here.

-Arrian

Yeah, I agree - I does seem absurd.

[Sprayber]

About the only thing these agencies seem to actually do is provide jobs for officials in Washington.

What would be the ideal intelligence structure.

[Lonestar]

Each Service has it's own Intel Agency, so that's 5 right there.

NSA is suppose to be with code-cracking and ELINT/SIGINT stuff...that's 6

DIA is the DoD's consolidated Intel Agency, which does a wide variaty of stuff.

CIA is suppose to be HUMINT, but Ironically, DIA does quite a bit of that.(duplication of effort 1)

NRO takes pictures.

NGA makes maps(Dupe 2)

DOE is in charge of nukes, so they get one.

Treasury has to keep track fo financial shenanighans(very successful at it) so they get one.

Some of the ones listed *I* wouldn't list as an intel agency(USSS,NCIS,CGIS) but whatever.

Soooo...yeah, some duplication of effort, some empire-building, and some with reasonable requirements. Obviously the USN feels that they need their own intel agency for Naval-related stuff, same with the USAF, etc..

[MikeH]

As amusing as the thread title was, I've changed it.

[Elok]

I assume the idea is that, as they work so poorly, you have massive redundant backups.

[HalfLotus]

The problem associated with 9/11 failure, the so-called "failure to connect the dots" was the exact same explanation given for the failure to apprehend the "Underwear" bomber in Michigan. So 10 years, billions of dollars, and a great deal of intelligence "reform" and they get the same result. Luckily the Underwear bomber was a moron.

Funny thing is, he was actually tracked and identified as a terrorist, but he was allowed on the plane by the State Dept.! They have a policy to allow free movement of terrorists in order "track" them, and supposedly get better intel or operational info.

So 10 years, billions of dollars, and much reform later, and they're allowing known terrorists to travel freely (by not revoking visas), and practically invited this guy to destroy an airplane and kill hundreds of people.

Truly, it boggles.