Bridge Colby has written an exceptionally thoughtful review of the US intelligence community (link below). Well worth a careful read for its nuanced assessment of what intelligence can and cannot produce. If I may add a comment: it is that the intelligence debate in the US seems to focus mightily on structural reform in Washington. Alongside this, the basic proposition that intelligence is about getting hold of non-trivial facts that adversaries and friends want to keep from you tends to get shortchanged. This means having officers who can pass themselves off as Madrassa students in the FATA regions of Pakistan. Not easy. If the intelligence machine is not delivering on this basic -- albeit extremely difficult -- task, tinkering in Washington will nothing avail.
Link is at:
http://www.hoover.org/publications/policyreview/8817787.html
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1 comment:
Thank you for sharing that article, it was such a breath of fresh air. My generation has seen the worst that an overinflated, under-performing intelligence system can do. Not only has the creation of Homeland Security and provisions of the Patriot Act made far domestically invasive, it only serves to create patsies of domestic, angry young men who would have never had the resources to carry out their feelings without an undercover FBI or CIA agent goading them into it. It creates a domestic problem to solve, while ignoring the rampant international source of terror and worldwide instability.
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