Hi Tom,

I understand what you're saying and don't disagree. The point I was trying to make was that regardless of the mistakes Hadley, Rice, Bush, and all the others may have made, they were set up for failure by a system that is broken. Did Hadley make it worse? I don't know from personal experience and will take your word that he has. What I worry about and what drove me to post was the focus on Hadley as the problem. It's typical Washington and often masks the real nature of what needs to be fixed.

Until we fix the entire system, folks on the ground are going to needlessly suffer. And that is going to occur whether Hadley is the National Security Advisor or it is a future National Security Advisor. All of the interagency issues I've faced have been at a lower level than the NSC and most have been the result of Department vs. Department parochialism, limited resources, and/or lack of proper authority.

It could also be argued that the Administration has been trying to fix the problem, unsuccessfully, for several years (eg: NSPD-44 and other similar initiatives). Clinton tried to do the same thing under significantly less difficult circumstances and it failed.

I've made improving interagency coordination something of a personal mission despite my lowly stature in the world. I've attended numerous courses, conferences, symposium and done a lot of reading. The simple fact is, as you know all too well, this problem has been going on for a long time. And while it may be worse under Hadley, it's been bad under everyone.

The point of this thread was basically to discuss the administration's plan to have a War "Czar." My opinion is that until the interagency system is fixed, a War "Czar" is required (though I'd call it something else). I believe the longer we focus on Hadley and his colleagues in the Administration, the longer it will take for us to actually solve the real problem -- both short term and long term.

Maybe I simply read too much into the posts on here and am concerned for no reason...it has happened before. I just don't want folks to believe that once Hadley (and Bush) are gone things will be better.

Take care,
Brian