Posted by
crosspatch on Sunday, July 09, 2006 4:39:04 PM
In many articles in my own blog and in others, I have noticed how many leaks to the press concerning intelligence and law enforcement operations seem to be politically motivated. It seems that we have had quite a spate of these since 9/11. It would be hard to believe that members of these agencies have suddenly become political animals and have begun leaking only since we were attacked.
Since 9/11 it would be logical to conclude that the number of intelligence operations has increased. It would also be reasonable to assume that members of Congress have been briefed on many of these programs. Politicians are political animals and it isn't much of a stretch to wonder if they might be leaking information to embarrass their political opposition.
Maybe the time has come to revamp oversight of intelligence to eliminate political figures from the process. In order for oversight to work, one must inform the political opposition of various things that could be embarrassing. The temptation would be great if one is the political sort to expose this information and embarrass the political opposition.
I believe we should have an independent panel that operates much like a court. The panel members would be respected individuals who could be cleared to the highest levels. They would serve terms of at least 8-years, could be removed by 2/3 vote of the Senate and would be nominated by the executive and approved by a majority of the Senate. The panel should consist of at least 7 but not more than 11 members. Their job would be to hear briefings on various intelligence programs, conduct classified hearings when more information is needed, prepare reports to Congress and respond to Congressional inquiries. They would also be tasked with initiation of investigations when wrongdoing is suspected or alleged. Finally, they would be the go-to group for any "whistleblowing". It would be their responsibility to hear information from the field and determine if any allegations should be investigated or not. This joint-branch oversight panel would not have any role in funding of intelligence operations. The main focus should be placed simply on seeing that our operations are legal and within the proper scope of the constitutional powers of the executive branch.
Part of the problem with the current congressional oversight is the role of fiscal blackmail where funding can be impacted simply because one or more members of Congress "doesn't like" something for political reasons and to remove the temptation to exploit intelligence information for partisan political purposes. What is proposed above is the product of only a couple of hours of thought. Smarter people than I could come up with something even better. The basic points are to depoliticize intelligence oversight and give a clear path for the reporting of wrongdoing without exposing operations.
In any case, something must be done. My confidence in the ability of politicians to oversee intelligence operations in wartime has been lost.