U.S. Intelligence less intelligent after 9/11

Jul 19, 2010 by James

The Washington Post has been tracking U.S. secret intelligence and its use after 9/11 and the results are not good. According to the Post, U.S. intelligence has grown so much since 9/11 that no one knows the true cost of it and no one knows how many people are involved.. The paper goes on to say that 2,000 private companies and 1,270 government agencies are involved in counter-terror activities at 10,000 locations inside the U.S.

Government officials are not going to lay down and watch their power dwindle. Several top tier people have said that the system has shortcomings but that the Post seems to have things wrong. The Post was even told by the White House that they knew the intelligence system had its flaws and they were trying to fix them as well.

The paper exposes the typical government waste, so many people and so many redundant checks and balances that it has resulted in a system with largely no oversight.

The paper has some scary stats collected over the last 2 years.

• 854,000 Americans have the top security clearance
• 1/5 of all anti terror organizations have been formed after 9/11
• 250 security companies have either restructured or have been formed since 9/11
• More than 30 complexes with 17 million square feet of space (that 1.6 square miles) have been built for top-secret intelligence work in the Washington area since the attacks
• Various agencies publish so many reports that they are often ignored by officials

U.S. officials are claiming that the system has had excellent results even with its shortcomings. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said that the bureaucracy of US intelligence gathering had not become unmanageable, but that it was sometimes hard to get precise information. This coming from our own Defense Secretary, his information should be very clear and precise. Gates went on to say that the intelligence field had grown so much that it was hard to get your arms around and that getting information for any individual was a challenge.

The Washington Post article Top Secret America was compiled government documents, public records and hundreds of interviews with intelligence, military and business officials and former officials. Most of the governmental sources were kept anonymous due to fear of retaliation.

The article is certainly going to raise questions for Director of National Intelligence successor; Gen James Clapper. His senate confirmation hearing is this week, and it comes at a time when President Obama’s intelligence advisory board strongly criticized the DNI. The advisory board called the DNI “overstaffed and dysfunctional” according to the post.

While 9/11 was blamed on not being able to connect all the dots, it seems as if they are still not able to do that with all of the new technology and people. The failed NYC bombing and the failed Detroit airline attack are just a few examples that come to mind recently. Just keep in mind that big brother is always watching, and you can thank the Patriot act for allowing this to get out of control.