WASHINGTON, July 19 (UPI) -- President George W. Bush said Monday he was considering creating a Cabinet-level post to oversee all U.S. intelligence efforts.
The suggestion for an intelligence czar was reported among recommendations in a yet-unreleased presidential commission report on the terrorist attacks of 2001 and the circumstances surrounding them.
"Still thinking about it," Bush said during a photo opportunity at the White House with Chilean President Ricardo Lagos. "Still taking a good hard look at it."
Acting CIA Director John McLaughlin, speaking in a television interview Sunday, was cool to the idea.
Bush said he has put in place a number of measures to improve intelligence gathering and assessment since Sept. 11, 2001 -- boosting human intelligence capabilities, better coordination among intelligence agencies and investing in new technology -- but indicated he was open to suggestions on more ways to better protect the country.
U.S. intelligence activities are now conducted by more than a dozen government agencies in addition to the Central Intelligence Agency. In the wake of the al-Qaida attacks of 2001, the White House set up a terrorist threat integration center to improve intelligence sharing, but some argue an intelligence czar is needed to supervise all intelligence efforts and budgeting.
