If there is one lesson we should have learned from 9/11 regarding intelligence collection and analysis, it is that the national intelligence bureaucracy’s “need to know” bias should be replaced with a cultural emphasis on the “need to share.” That’s why it is alarming to hear that the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC) has decided to shut down uGov, a webmail system for the IC and those who need to work with it on a regular basis. The exact reasons for the decision are still unclear, but it seems that they primarily involve concerns over network security: Something might leak out [...]
In this interview with Gary Thomas of Voice of America, CIADirector Leon Panetta says President Hamid Karzai will in alllikelihood still emerge as the winner of the presidentialcontest in Afghanistan, even after contested votes are thrown out.Panetta also says there aredifferences among Iran’s leaders about whether to actually build anuclear bomb, and he talks about the CIA’s reaction to the U.S.attorney general’s investigation into interrogation techniques.
The high-seas weekend rescue of Richard Phillips is a testament to both the heroism and impressive tactical skills of Special Operations Forces and the unparalleled role they play in the selective application of force. But as the weekend drew to a close and Somali pirates vowed to revenge the lives of their own and fired upon the aircraft of a departing congressman, it was depressingly obvious that the rescue effort succeeded in quelling only one part of the problem. It was a tactical success in the midst of a much larger strategic headache. Other ships remain in the custody of [...]
