Fixing the multi-agency, multi-target, multi-operation American intelligence disorder?

The US has 16 different intelligence agencies (See this graph in a recent FT article).  German tax payers also pay for the questionable luxury to entertain an equal number state-level intelligence agencies next to the three federal intelligence services. Both countries are – to say it diplomatically – organisationally and logistically challenged as a result.

Followers of the Bundestag’s BND-inquiry (2006-2009) might remember some of the testimonies by state-level intelligence officers. They were entirely embarassing for the intelligence community and the government at large. Through this rare keyhole of intelligence politics, the public learned about the duplication of investigative tasks, disorganisation, amenities, ill-communication and arbitrary work ethics. This sparked a debate whether or not to reduce the number of intelligence agencies in Germany. Yet, as ever so often with intelligence politics, despite a debate, the politics machine moved on without seriously addressing the issue.

In the US, the situation is very similar. Here, too, we find an inability/unwillingness to change the obviously sub-standard status quo. The 9/11 Commission called for swift changes but any real down-sizing of the US intelligence community has yet to see the light of day.

A common-sense resolution to the problem of intelligence compartmentalisation comes from the fringe — i.e. by two professors who rarely reflect on intelligence politics. Richard A. Posner and Luis Garicano compare the deplorable status quo of the US intelligence community with that of the US car giant GM and propose similar radical measures to get a grip on the problem.

« The domestic automakers’ organizational structures were notoriously complex and top-heavy. While Toyota had been selling the same car worldwide, Ford had insisted that American consumers would not buy the cars successfully produced by Ford for sale in Europe. As a result, every stage of production from R&D to actual manufacturing was duplicated in the two markets.

(Snip) [...]