Iran Is on the Cusp of Producing Nuclear Weapons

One of the many reasons I was a detractor of the 9/11 Commission was its counterintuitive “ramp up the bureaucracy” solution, so typical of Washington, to a problem — namely, lack of intelligence sharing — that was caused, in part, by there having already been too much bureaucracy. This solution, adopted by Congress in the similarly typical “let’s at least look like we’re doing something to fix this” mode, gave us the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI).

Like another post-9/11 “fix,” the Department of Homeland Security, the ODNI is among the most redundant government bureaucracies. That is, its necessary functions were already being performed by other agencies before it was created, and its supposed value — drawing better performance out of an intelligence community that its creation made more bloated — is non-existent.

About the Author

Andrew C. McCarthy

Andrew C. McCarthy is a senior fellow at National Review Institute, an NR contributing editor, and author of Ball of Collusion: The Plot to Rig an Election and Destroy a Presidency.

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One of the many reasons I was a detractor of the 9/11 Commission was its counterintuitive “ramp up the bureaucracy” solution, so typical of Washington, to a problem — namely, lack of intelligence sharing — that was caused, in part, by there having already been too much bureaucracy. This solution, adopted by Congress in the similarly typical “let’s at least look like we’re doing something to fix this” mode, gave us the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI).

Like another post-9/11 “fix,” the Department of Homeland Security, the ODNI is among the most redundant government bureaucracies. That is, its necessary functions were already being performed by other agencies before it was created, and its supposed value — drawing better performance out of an intelligence community that its creation made more bloated — is non-existent.

About the Author

Andrew C. McCarthy

Andrew C. McCarthy is a senior fellow at National Review Institute, an NR contributing editor, and author of Ball of Collusion: The Plot to Rig an Election and Destroy a Presidency.