US Intelligence Community Reform Studies Since 1947
Abstract
The publication of The 9/11 Commission Report, the war in Iraq, and subsequent negotiation of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 have provoked the most intense debate over the future of American intelligence since the end of World War II. For observers of this national discussion--as well as of future debates that are all but inevitable? this paper offers a historical perspective on reform studies and proposals that have appeared over the course of the US Intelligence Community's evolution into its present form. We have examined the origins, context, and results of 14 significant official studies that have surveyed the American intelligence system since 1947. We explore the reasons these studies were launched, the recommendations they made, and the principal results that they achieved. It should surprise no one that many of the issues involved--such as the institutional relationships between military and civilian intelligence leaders--remain controversial to the present time. For this reason, we have tried both to clarify the perennial issues that arise in intelligence reform efforts and to determine those factors that favor or frustrate their resolution. Of the 14 reform surveys we examined, only the following achieved substantial success in promoting the changes they proposed: the Dulles Report (1949), the Schlesinger Report (1971), the Church Committee Report (1976), and the 9/11 Commission Report (2004). The earliest such study, the January 1949 Dulles Report, achieved its considerable influence only after a disastrous warning failure almost 18 months later at the outset of the Korean War. A new Director of Central Intelligence (DCI), Lt. Gen. Walter Bedell Smith, used this report to make major changes at the Central Intelligence Agency.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 2005
- Accession Number
- ADA499560
Entities
People
- J. K. Mcdonald
- Michael Warner
Organizations
- Central Intelligence Agency