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Re: [Culture] Manipulating the Bullshit Alerts

William H. Magill
Tue, 03 Aug 2004 13:40:26 -0700

On 03 Aug, 2004, at 14:52, Pete Coyle wrote:
Wow.  Is this true?

Do you have a link to back that up?

Pete
On Tuesday, August 3, 2004, at 01:38 PM, William H. Magill wrote:

Kerry wants to strip all authority and funding for Intelligence from every other branch of government to concentrate it in this one person.

That is the position of the 9/11 Commission, which Kerry supports, so far unequivocally.


You have to read all of Chapter 13, "How to do it," for all the gory details.

But one relevant passage is (pg 405 if you want to follow along):

"To avoid the fate of other entities with great nominal authority and little real power, the head of the NCTC [National Counterterrorism Center] must have the right to concur in the choices of personnel to lead the operating entities of the departments and agencies focused on counterterrorism ... The head of the NCTC should also work with the director of the Office of Management and Budget in developing the president's counterterrorism budget."

Then on the following page:

"The most serious disadvantage of the NCTC is the reverse of its greatest virtue. The struggle against Islamist terrorism is so important that any clear-cut centralization of authority to manage and be accountable for it may concentrate too much power in one place. The proposed NCTC would be given the authority of planning the activities of other agencies. Law or executive order must define the scope of such line authority."

This issue was discussed at length by reporters at a White House press conference yesterday afternoon. Bush is opposing this idea, but Kerry, at least so far, has simply called for the implementation of every recommendation as outlined in the report.

In defense of the Commission, their position is quite "equivocating." [For a Congressional report, it is AMAZINGLY academic.] They do indicate the pros and cons of their recommendations, expecting Congress to do the public debating and to strike a meaningful common ground based on the body politic.

T.T.F.N.
William H. Magill
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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