ABSTRACT
The intelligence investigation committees of the 1970s dealt mainly with covert action, the compatibility of secrecy with the principles of democracy, and-from time to time-with improvement of the intelligence end product. Reforms may become inevitable as the result of changing priorities, new political constellations, or technological innovations. Recruitment and training are critical for the future performance of intelligence. The managers of scientific intelligence will need more people and resources, but such increases will not be easy to obtain-particularly if economic conditions are unfavorable. American attitudes toward intelligence arise from a high standard of morality, but there has also been some humbug involved. The fact is that intelligence runs against the grain of American political culture. In democratic societies such behavior would be frowned upon and the perpetrators would be ostracized, if not punished. Standing Congressional intelligence committees exist only since 1976; their status was defined by the Intelligence Oversight Act of 1980.
