American Intelligence, An Apparent Oxymoron

Do you think Barack Obama has any greater appreciation for the pressures on George Bush now that Mr. Obama has himself suffered from the complete lack of American intelligence in the middle east?

What is the missing ingredient, when anyone with even a middling IQ can figure that a authoritarian regime in office for 30 years might have only a finite remaining political lifespan?

Here's a suggestion. Let's fire 50% of the intelligence community, concentrating on those with offices in Washington. At this point, any 50%. Pick them at random, or eenie-meenie. It doesn't matter.

Replace them with three hedge fund managers, people whose lives depend on getting it right, first. Require each intelligence summary be voted on. At the end of the year, fire the one with the fewest correct votes. Pay the other two $5 million apiece for each summary presented.

Repeat annually.

Our batting average will improve. A lot.