Government M&A
Can't all those out-of-work investment bankers be put to work -- in government, merging the fragmented intelligence operations of the US? If you don't think there's a problem, read this, from the LA Times.
In and around Afghanistan, Gray Fox was part of a secret sphere that included the CIA's paramilitary Special Activities Division and the Pentagon's Joint Special Operations Command. These commands and "white" Special Forces like the Green Berets, as well as Air Force combat controllers and commandos of eight different nations report to a mind-boggling array of new command cells and coordination units set up after Sept. 11. An Army brigadier general commands the Joint Interagency Task Force at Bagram air base north of Kabul to coordinate CIA, Defense Department and coalition forces in Afghanistan. A new Campaign Support Group has been established at Ft. Bragg, N.C. The Special Operations Joint Interagency Collaboration Center has been created in Tampa, Fla.
It's a good rule of thumb in organizations: when most of the managerial work is done in cross-department committees, there's a case for wiping out the departments. Personally, I'd put all foreign intelligence work under the Department of Defense, as well as domestic anti-terrorism. Right now we guarantee our liberty by the built-in inefficiency of the defense and intelligence services. Better to merge the disparate arms, and set up a permanent oversight agency to keep in check such a mighty organization. But, hey, let the investment bankers figure it all out. The Secret War [LA Times]
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