On March 31, 2005, the Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction presented its recommendations to President George W. Bush. The Commission, co-chaired by retired judge Laurence H. Silberman and former senator Charles Robb, concluded that the American intelligence community must undergo fundamental reform in order to confront the threats and challenges that face our nation. The Bush administration has already taken steps to address the weaknesses that plague the intelligence community. A Directorate of National Intelligence has been created, and the CIA and FBI have submitted draft reform proposals to the president. Are our intelligence agencies on the right track? What needs to be done in order to make America safer in the twenty-first century?

These and other questions will be the subject of an AEI presentation and discussion. Judge Laurence Silberman will give a presentation on the Commission's report. Judge Richard Posner, author of Preventing Surprise Attacks: Intelligence Reform in the Wake of 9/11, will offer a critique of the report and commentary on intelligence reform. Tom Corcoran, senior policy advisor to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and Lindsay Moran, a former CIA case officer and author of Blowing My Cover: My Life in the CIA (and Other Misadventures), will respond.