A key part of government’s post-9/11 restructuring was the creation of a National Intelligence Board. Borne out of CIA and FBI inability to share information that could have thwarted the terrorist attacks, the 16-member board includes the leaders of all key intelligence and security agencies, including the CIA and FBI.

The board’s job is to confirm National Intelligence Estimates on the biggest security issues of the day. And as Walter Pincus and Karen DeYoung of the Washington Post explain, the board is on the fence as to whether a release a declassified version of an NIE on Iraq security to the public. The recent unclassified NIE on Iran’s nuclear capability had significant and immediate policy repercussions.  If the new Iraq report is released, it will come out right before David Petraeus testifies to Congress in April on the surge’s progress.  Read DeYoung and Pincus here.

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