Is Al Haig in charge? (a response)

I was just going to post a "comment" but it got out of hand and exceeded the character limit.

Confused chains of command are often seen in American institutions. These convoluted institutional structures often result from implementing the principles in my favorite quotation from the Federalist papers (the one from Madison's Federalist 51 about "opposite and rival interests").

The problem we've got in Iraq is that institutions that used to be "opposite and rival" have been transformed into a single ideological leviathan by the post 9/11 "war on terror" rhetoric and the lack of Congressional oversight that has gone along with it.

The result is that instead of acting as a "centinel" [see, the Founders couldn't spell either!] over public rights, these institutions have created a barrier to oversight. By confusing the chain of command, the Military/Intelligence leviathan increases what social scientists call "informational asymmetries." The rough translation of that little bit of jargon is that it helps the Military/Intelligence leviathan to make sure that they know more about what's going on than Congress (or anyone else) does.

Once again, it all comes down to oversight.