On Wed, Aug 14, 2013 at 1:15 PM, The Doctor <[1]drwho@virtadpt.net>
   wrote:

   On 08/12/2013 10:25 AM, Kyle Maxwell wrote:
   > Or that different departments / teams have different enforcement
   > priorities, or that they don't cooperate well with each other...

     Sometimes the right hand and left hand don't know what each other
     are
     doing.
     Sometimes the right and left hands are on entirely different bodies
     on
     different sides of the continent.

   In my limited experience with the spook agencies, this understates the
   case. The left hand refuses to share a thing, making the smug claim
   "We're listeners, not talkers."
   The right hand is working to stab the left in the back and take control
   of the two fingers it thinks are doing anything useful. The left hand
   is doing the same to the right.
   I could go on, but I think the analogy is starting to fall apart. Eugen
   Leitl pasted up an article recently, describing the delusions,
   incompetence, dirty dealing, and dirty characters involved in Britain's
   MI5. That matched pretty well what I know of my own knowledge of US
   operations.
   Please note thatmy experience was entirely on the US Army side of
   things, as a low-ranking officer. I was mostly insulated from political
   considerations except for budget battles. However, I dealt with other
   groupsand Ikept my eyes and ears open and couldn't help noticing
   things.

References

   1. mailto:drwho@virtadpt.net