INTELLIGENCE FAT
(Miss Moneypenny certainly does not approve of this...)

Can anyone tell me why in the world the US needs 15 intelligence agencies?
During the confirmation hearings for the new and latest goverment fat layer -the Director of National Intelligence-, I was astounded but not surprised to learn that John Negroponte would be the "Czar" of 15 intelligence agencies. Fifteen!
This is the official Government site for the intelligence tree (http://www.intelligence.gov/1-members.shtml). I count 6 for the military branches, 2 for in-country law enforcement, 4 for cabinet level directorates and 3 for James Bond stuff. Call me stupid or naive but just looking at this list has me of the opinion that there HAS to be severe overlapping responsibilities here, .... am I alone on an Island on this one? I would love to see what percentage chunk of the Federal Budget these 15 prima donnas takes in.
Lets cut the fat. I am fully for a strong, prevalent and take-no-prisoners policy as to intelligence gathering ability. But this largesse has been built through years of inter-agency squabling, military branch rivalries and territorial peeing. Its time to start consolidating these agencies into real-world efficiency entities. You keep hearing of inter-agency bickering and turf-protection... are you kidding me? Are we not all on the same team? Are the military branches not in the business of working together in a wondreous ballet of cooperation? (I know, I know.. but you get my drift). Somebody CALIBRATE me on this please......