Preventing surprise attacks : intelligence reform in the wake of 9/11
(Book - Regular Print)

Includes index.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

The commission to investigate the September 11 terrorist attacks recommended a dramatic overhaul of the nation's intelligence system. Congress responded hastily. Posner argues that the 9/11 Commission's analysis, on which Congress relied, was superficial and its proposals unsound. The commission exaggerated the benefits of centralizing control over intelligence; neglected the relevant scholarship and the experience of foreign nations, some of which have a longer history of fighting terrorism than the United States; and as a result ignored the psychological, economic, historical, sociological, and comparative dimensions of intelligence reform. Posner explains, however, that a ray of hope remains: the reorganization provisions of the new Act are so vague that the actual shape of the reorganized system will depend critically on decisions made by the President in implementing the Act; he suggests directions for real reform.--From publisher description.