Now that Dennis Blair has officially resigned from his post, Obama officials are scrambling to find a new director of national intelligence (DNI). But why bother? 

Unnecessary bureaucracy has a venomous effect on the national security establishment, whether it’s infantry or intelligence. The director of national intelligence, which has ballooned to a 1500-man supporting office, was a top down solution to a bottom up problem. When the posting was created after 9/11, it was designed to address significant shortfalls in interagency communication. That problem was pressing and real — and could have been solved with a few well-tailored internal policies and a modest cadre of motivated liaison officers.