The Presidential Commission to dig into the pre-war intelligence gaffes is a big snooze, but if you’re so inclined I’ll give a summation of the findings.

“Our collection agencies are often unable to gather intelligence on the very things we care the most about,” the panel concluded in an unsparing report.

No kidding? I will point out that it was not just U.S. intelligence that swung and missed regarding Iraq, but it was also intelligence agencies accross the globe as well. The Commission points to several items that need to be fixed which are currently underway, however many of these changes are relatively new and President Bush has said he will implement these changes.

The panel did conclude there was no evidence that the Bush Administration pushed U.S. intelligence to come to any conclusion, which is a popular Leftist conspiracy theory and talking point even for some Democratic politicians. Even with this insight, I still consider the panel not to be very noteworthy because most people did not believe President Bush pushed the CIA to a certain viewpoint.

The addition of a “head of intelligence” will help transform U.S. intelligence services from a relaxed mindset that came about during the 1990s to one that is increasingly focused on terrorism. Following the end of the Cold War, U.S. intelligence was gutted and lacked a clear focus. We now have that focus and we have people in place that are dedicated to reviving the intelligence community. Unfortunately though, as all changes do, it will require time; time we may not have.

Part of the criticism of U.S. intelligence has recieved following the gaffe of pre-war intelligence in Iraq is unmerited though highly reasonable. We can see that in the dealings with the uranium turned over by Libya which is believed to originate from North Korea. Sadly the U.S. intelligence community needs to find the smoking gun in order to conclusively connect the uranium from North Korea, through the black market organized by Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan and to Libya before the United States can address the IAEA of the threat North Korea has made by selling nuclear technology and components to other nations.

This was not the way things used to be, but for better or worse, this is the way the intelligence community must act today. The preponderance of evidence goes further from what a jury would need to convict, which could very well lead to less intelligence operations.