"It's a great concept, but the ball's in the air right now, and it's too premature to say how it will affect DoD," the official said. "A big part of [the national intelligence director's position] would be DoD. You want to make sure you're putting the right information into the hands of the people on the ground who pull the trigger so they are the best they can be."
At yesterday's hearing, acting CIA Director John E. McLaughlin also urged a deliberate approach. He said his agency and the Pentagon have worked over the past three years to break down barriers and coordinate efforts at home and overseas -- improvements he said addressed many of the shortcomings identified by the Sept. 11 commission.
"Speed and agility are not promoted by complicated wiring diagrams, more levels of bureaucracy, increased dual hatting or inherent questions about who is in charge," McLaughlin said. "I believe that short, clear lines of command and control are required in whatever structure you establish, regardless of what you call its leader." McLaughlin took over at the CIA after the retirement of George J. Tenet. Bush has nominated Rep. Porter J. Goss (R-Fla.) to become the next director of the CIA, a job that would change considerably if a national intelligence director were in charge of all U.S. intelligence agencies.
Several members of the Senate Armed Services Committee agreed yesterday that changes should be the result of careful study.
Committee Chairman John W. Warner (R-Va.) said that he wants action soon to strengthen intelligence to confront a constant and evolving threat of terrorist attack. But he said he did not want to offer drastic changes that could cause "turbulence or disruption in the intelligence system" when the nation is at war.
Among the options, Warner said, are creating a national director as proposed by the commission, or a less dramatic reorganization that would give the CIA director greater authority over budgets and the activities of other intelligence agencies, an approach similar to that in legislation proposed by Goss and others.
Sen. Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.) said he hopes Congress will focus on the structure of the intelligence community and on how intelligence has been used by the administration.
"As we consider legislation for the reorganization of the intelligence community, we should recognize the significance of both types of failures: those resulting from poor organization and management, and those resulting from politicizing intelligence," Levin said.
Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the committee that reorganizing the intelligence community is an obviously complex and difficult task. He implored Congress to remember that the military depends on intelligence on a scale unparalleled in the government.
"As we get more and more clarity on the gaps and deficiencies in our intelligence today, we have to guard against creating new problems," Myers said. "And the details matter very much."
