Joan Mellen talk at COPA 2013 on Garrison, CIA et al.

[Tracy Riddle]

During the recent government shutdown, I heard on NPR that Military Intelligence lost none of its people, while the CIA was forced to furlough about 70% of its employees. I think that speaks volumes about who is the top dog in the intelligence community.

The remaining 30% were well capable of controlling CIA's interests. You have to realize that scaling back occurred at a point when CIA had just finished expanding its power further than it ever had under ex CIA Director son Bush. The true lesson here, as Joan Mellen writes above, is that CIA had succeeded in deploying the military as an extension of itself to the fullest extent possible. Once this deployment is done under the CIA template, the military then takes over. I think you're missing the pattern of plausible deniability here. I'd bet most of that 70% were the 'honest' HQ schleps doing paperwork and monitoring.

Albert, from everything I've read, the CIA has seen its power weakened in the past decade:

The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 created the office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), who took over some of the government and intelligence community (IC)-wide functions that had previously been the CIA's. The DNI manages the United States Intelligence Community and in so doing it manages the intelligence cycle. Among the functions that moved to the DNI were the preparation of estimates reflecting the consolidated opinion of the 16 IC agencies, and preparation of briefings for the president. On July 30, 2008, President Bush issued Executive Order 13470[SUP][82][/SUP] amending Executive Order 12333 to strengthen the role of the DNI.[SUP][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Intelligence_Agency#cite_note-83"][83]

[/URL][/SUP]Previously, the Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) oversaw the Intelligence Community, serving as the president's principal intelligence advisor, additionally serving as head of the CIA. The DCI's title now is "Director of the Central Intelligence Agency" (D/CIA), serving as head of the CIA.


Currently, the CIA reports to the Director of National Intelligence. Prior to the establishment of the DNI, the CIA reported to the President, with informational briefings to congressional committees. The National Security Advisor is a permanent member of the National Security Council, responsible for briefing the President with pertinent information collected by all U.S. intelligence agencies, including the National Security Agency, the Drug Enforcement Administration, etc. All 16 Intelligence Community agencies are under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence.