Intel reform

The Post-9/11 U.S. Intelligence Community

Fifteen years ago, 19 hijackers and four planes shattered American illusions of security. An outside attack seemed remote to most Americans, and there appeared to be no immediate threat to their daily lives. September 11th quickly dispelled that sense of safety, and as the dust settled and the death toll rose, the question soon became, how did we miss this?

Unsurprisingly, the onus of that question fell on the U.S. intelligence community (IC), which many blamed for the largest intelligence failure in U.S. history. Fair or not, this accusation began a series of inquiries and reforms which has changed the face of American intelligence. Today, 15 years later, how have these reforms changed the way our IC works, and are we safer?

The reform of the IC only truly began around three years after 9/11, with the landmark Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act (IRTPA) of 2004. In response to both the 9/11 attacks and the faulty National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) in 2002 concerning weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) in Iraq, the IRTPA called for a number of key reforms. Most significantly, it established the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), which replaced the Director of Central Intelligence’s previous role as both the head of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the coordinator of all national intelligence.