Failures to stop the recent U.S. airliner bomb plot and the destruction of a CIA base in Afghanistan illustrate inherent problems in intelligence gathering, and al-Qaeda's impenetrability, says CFR's Richard K. Betts.

President Obama has called for tweaks to the way terror suspects are monitored, but some observers wonder whether the changes will be sufficient to prevent a repeat of the Christmas Day terror plot.

President Obama says "systemic failures" contributed to the Christmas Day airliner plot, but CFR's Steven Simon says given the huge volume of intelligence analyzed daily, reforms won't come easily.

This Center for a New American Security paper, discusses the signficance of the U.S. intelligence community to the counterinsurgency strategy in Afghanistan and recommends a reorientation of focus from the "enemy" to the Afghan people.

Wired's Noah Schachtman reports for the Danger Room on the susceptibility of U.S. Air Force ROVER video systems to hacking.

The President's Intelligence Advisory Board is often criticized as a do-nothing panel. But it might be just the tool Obama needs to fix the U.S. intelligence community.

The Justice Department's decision to review past CIA interrogation tactics may be legally justified, but Burton Gerber, a former CIA station chief, says the move could have a chilling and detrimental impact on the nation's counterterrorism efforts.

The U.S. attorney general's decision to conduct a preliminary review of past CIA interrogations awakens spirited debate over the scope of the intelligence community's counterterrorism practices.

Washington is embroiled in a manic swing of opinion about the efficacy of covert action, including targeted assassinations. Richard A. Clarke on the delicate balance between the rule of law and running an effective intelligence agency.

Legal expert Sanford V. Levinson says rising debate in Congress over past intelligence practices aimed at combating terrorism will likely lead to modifications in policy though not a major overhaul.

Preface:

Title III of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Amendments Act of 2008 required the Inspectors General (IGs) of the elements of the Intelligence Community that participated in the President's Surveillance Program (PSP) to conduct a comprehensive review of the program. The IGs of the Department of Justice, the Department of Defense, the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence participated in the review required under the Act. The Act required the IGs to submit a comprehensive report on the review to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and the House Committee on the Judiciary.

In response to Title III requirements, we have prepared this unclassified report on the PSP, which summarizes the collective results of our reviews. Because many aspects of the PSP remain classified, and in order to provide the Congressional committees the complete results of our reviews, we also prepared, and have bound separately, a classified report on the PSP. The individual reports detailing the results of each IG's review are annexes to the classified report .

Michael J. Gerson argues, "the Obama administration and the Democratic Congress have delivered a series of blows to the pride and morale of the Central Intelligence Agency."

President  Obama's decision to release information on CIA interrogation techniques has sparked furious debate over U.S. handling of terror suspects. CFR's Daniel Prieto says the new details indicate the "contorted" logic used by the Bush administration to justify harsh questioning.

Michael V. Hayden and Michael Mukasey argue that the point of interrogation is intelligence, not confession.

David S. Broder says that withdrawal of Charles Freeman, who would have headed the National Intelligence Council, is a loss to the United States.

Leslie H. Gelb discusses whether the Obama administration, unlike those past, can improve U.S. intelligence capabilities.

Robert S. Mueller III, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), discusses the FBI's efforts to act as a global security, national security, and law enforcement organization, and to effectively address the threat of global terrorism.