“We concluded as a group that the National Security Council was dysfunctional.”

Cheney has . . . the largest national security staff of any vice president in U.S. history.

whoa, nellie... foreign policy has an immensely insightful article (Inside the Committee that Runs the World) on bush's national security council, particularly timely now, given cheney's support for bolton, the stonewalling on delivering the nsa intercepts to the senate foreign relations committee, condi's "guidance" to state department staff to not discuss bolton, etc...

The inner circles of the U.S. national security community—members of the National Security Council (NSC), a select number of their deputies, and a few close advisors to the president—represent what is probably the most powerful committee in the history of the world, one with more resources, more power, more license to act, and more ability to project force further and swifter than any other convened by king, emperor, or president.

At the same time, the political party controlling that committee has a grip on power in Washington unprecedented in recent history. For the first time in nearly eight decades, the Republican Party has won control of the White House, Senate, and House of Representatives in two consecutive elections. Yet, despite this political monopoly, the elites who exert the most influence on this little-understood, shadowy committee are being buffeted and pulled apart by forces from within.

if that's enough of a teaser for you, go read the whole thing... it's 7 pages of extremely well-written and documented insider info... (free, registration required...)

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