Intelligence and U.S. Foreign Policy: Iraq, 9/11, and Misguided Reform

In this book, Paul R. Pillar identifies and confronts the intelligence myths Americans have come to rely on to explain national tragedies. He revisits U.S. foreign policy during the Cold War and highlights the small role intelligence played in those decisions, and he demonstrates the negligible effect that America's most notorious intelligence failures had on U.S. policy and interests. He then reviews the events of 9/11 and the 2003 invasion of Iraq, criticizing the 9/11 Commission and the George W. Bush administration for their portrayals of the role of intelligence. When it comes to reforming the current intelligence apparatus, Pillar encourages insulating intelligence management from politicization and reducing the politically appointed layer in the executive branch to combat slanted perceptions of foreign threats. He also proposes several principles for adapting foreign policy to inevitable uncertainties.