According to Jeff Stein at CQ Politics, there are no indications from the Obama White House that the seats on the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board and Intelligence Oversight Board will be filled anytime soon. The board, which once served a valuable role advising presidents on national security matters, oversaw little during the Bush years, except to add to the collective intelligence failure that allowed the September 11 terrorist attacks to happen, and do nothing to stop the illegal warrantless wiretapping program by the National Security Agency. The advisory body could still fill an important role in support of President Obama—but only if the Democrats can come up with the modern-day equivalent of a George Kennan, Dean Acheson, or McGeorge Bundy, says intelligence historian Richard Harris Smith.

But if such men are not to be found these days, then perhaps it is just as well to put the board to rest, writes Stein. “…Does this president really need to maintain yet another intelligence panel that has largely served as a rest home for Washington insiders and fat cats?” he argues. “No, it may be time to send the old board to a death panel.”
                                                                                                                                                          -Noel Brinkerhoff

Obama Should Ditch the Intelligence Advisory Board (by Jeff Stein, CQ Politics)
President's Intelligence Advisory Board and Intelligence Oversight Board (AllGov)