Lynn C. Woolsey: “There is nothing romantic about the state of America's intelligence. It is a tired, rusty, bureaucratic, multi-headed…”

“There is nothing romantic about the state of America's intelligence. It is a tired, rusty, bureaucratic, multi-headed beast that is letting down the American people. Fifteen different Federal Government agencies are a part of our intelligence apparatus, and that does not even include the ad hoc intelligence team the administration gathered to advance its phantom case that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. Fifteen agencies. That is 15 chains of command, 15 unique institutional cultures, 15 fiefdoms. It is a recipe for disaster, for turf battles, and ego clashes which stand in the way of the most critical work imaginable: Keeping the American people safe. According to Bob Woodward's book, former CIA Director George Tenet told the President that he had a 'slam dunk' case for war. In reality, Tenet could not get the different players on his own team to pass the ball to one another. Here is what I want to know: If organizing the hodgepodge Department of Homeland Security was so important that people were called unpatriotic for opposing it, then why is it not just as urgent to unite U.S. intelligence under a single umbrella?”