The U.S. Intelligence Community:
An imperative for reform and restructuring.
Mark W. Truesdale
Student 3090222
Professor Paul W. Cooke
Course IS389
27 Nov 2008
TruesdaleMW
3090222
1
"In actual practice, the successful end to the Cold War and the lack of any national intelligence disasters since then seem to militate in favor of keeping the existing structure until some crisis proves it to be in dire need of repair. . . . Thus we are likely to live with a decentralized Intelligence system and the impulse toward centralization until a crisis realigns the political and bureaucratic players or compels them to cooperate in new ways."
- Deputy Chief, CIA History Staff[i]
The United States Intelligence Community was created due to the shocking and demoralizing surprise attack conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Following directly in the aftermath of the tragedy and debacle at Pearl, the political leadership of the United States ascertained that the surprise attack would have been averted had there been a coordinated effort and intelligence sharing at all levels within the Pacific Naval Command structure. The surprise attack on Pearl Harbor would serve as the primary inspiration behind the formulation and enactment of National Security Act of 1947, which was the first attempt to coordinate and put into operation the tenets of unity and harmony between the command and intelligence staff. My thesis is that the United States Intelligence Community (IC) continually needs to undertake a vast,...