Quoted on BBC, 28 May 2010

“Can one person oversee every spy?” by Finlo Rohrer, BBC News (5/28/10)

“He has no power, no leverage. He can’t make anything happen. He doesn’t control anything of significance in the [intelligence] community,” says Mark Lowenthal, former deputy assistant secretary of state for intelligence and president of the Intelligence and Security Academy.

“He is just there to try and get people to listen to him and co-ordinate. He can’t. I think we have proved that to everyone’s satisfaction.”

…

There is a case for returning to the structure that existed before Mr Blair’s post was created, Mr Lowenthal suggests.

Then the job of co-ordinating the intelligence community fell to the director of central intelligence, who also ran the CIA.

“It worked better when the DCI [had the role]. He knew the analysts that produced the papers,” says Mr Lowenthal, who was assistant DCI for analysis.

…

But is there an argument that – in the absence of major bomb attacks – US intelligence is actually performing fairly well?

“We have been very successful,” says Mr Lowenthal. “The fact they are attacking in ones is a sign of success. The unspoken standard is perfection.”