Just so we're clear on what I do or don't know, I held special compartmented access credentials under both the DoD and CIA, the so called "above top secret" clearances. And yes, there's a lot I can never tell anyone.

I can tell you that once the military advises their civilian counterparts on what could be done, the decision to act passes to that civilian leadership, and they don't always follow the military strategy. As one illustration, President Carter did not follow the military advice on the attempt to rescue the Iranian held hostages, being more concerned with creating a multiservice team than executing the best strategy. As a result, the attempt met with disaster, from using the wrong equipment and a team that had never worked together before.

An experience I can pass along is that the creation of a National Intelligence Agency that supposedly leads all the subordinate intelligence agencies did not solve the problem of agencies not sharing information. It did, however, make the misuse of assets easier, as the extra layer of administration further clouds the view of what exactly each agency is up to. It also allowed the "leak" of missions from one agency to another, with NSA and CIA working in areas they aren't supposed to. Part of this mission leak is because the NSA has the most powerful supercomputers of any agency, and it's inevitable that when they let any other agency make use of their systems, they control what their own people see.

Then there's the new Cyber Command in the Pentagon. The Defense Intelligence Agency is heavily involved, and has a burr under its saddle about the encroachment of the civilian intelligence agencies cyber activities. Naturally, the civilian intelligence agencies are irritated by the "new kid on the block" working in a field they previously acted alone, passing tidbits to the military when it suited them.

If I was a White House Intelligence Czar, I'd advise the President to form a team of experienced intelligence people from across the spectrum of agencies and the DoD to probe flaws in the national intelligence system. The team would be charged with recommending actions to clarify the rules of engagement between the agencies, and to prevent abuses such as we've witnessed over the past few decades.

Stay out of Amazon and African cannibal territory. Primitives all over the world would kill you. It isn't a reason to start a religious crusade against Muslims and "muslims" are not a proper basis for US foreign policy.