Editorial: Time to take charge

Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2004 | 9:09 a.m.

President Bush, in supporting the creation of a national intelligence director and a counterterrorism center, is partly following the recommendation of the 9/11 Commission. We say partly because, under Bush's plan, an intelligence director wouldn't be located in the White House and wouldn't have control over intelligence budgets as the 9/11 Commission has recommended.

Bush's advisers worry that placing the office in the White House could politicize intelligence gathering. But this can occur if the head of intelligence isn't in the White House, too. Even under the current system, critics have charged that the Bush White House placed pressure on U.S. intelligence agencies to provide the answers it wanted to justify a war with Iraq. (A strong president can reduce the possibility of politicizing intelligence if he doesn't tolerate such manipulation in the first place.) Most importantly, if the intelligence director is in the White House -- and provided with budget-setting authority for intelligence gathering -- it would increase accountability and give him the clout to settle turf battles.

The new intelligence director must have more than a title; he actually must be in charge. We're concerned that Bush's plan would undermine this recommendation of the 9/11 Commission. Before long, the many agencies with responsibility for intelligence gathering -- both civilian and military -- would likely revert to turf wars. That's no longer tolerable in a post-9/11 world.