Major Intelligence Failure

The media focus surrounding the death of John Paul II has eclipsed what I think is a very big news story:

On Thursday the Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction issued its 618-page report.

The report is unsparing in its criticism of the performance of this country's intelligence agencies, and serves up precious tidbits like this one, which I think should be read in a loud voice twice over at least:

"We conclude that the intelligence community was dead wrong in almost all of its prewar judgements about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. This was a major intelligence failure".

The report offers 70 recommendations on how to fix the 15 agencies now under the direction of John Negroponte, the newly-appointed Director of National Intelligence.

The text of the surprisingly frank letter to the president that accompanied the report is here.