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In the wake of 9/11, there was a strong demand to find out why the intelligence community, the discreet but fundamental instrument of America’s foreign policy, had failed to prevent this catastrophe. Congress responded with the creation of an investigative commission. However, parents of the September 11th victims voiced their concerns that the investigation might not be independent enough. Eventually, an independent blue-ribbon panel was organized. This article shows that next to the executive and legislative bodies America’s civil society did play a part in the investigation as well as in the reform of intelligence.