The installation of military in U.S. intelligence agencies generated contrasting opinions among lawmakers, analysts, and historians, among others. As others argued about it, there were those who favored it, reasoning how such move could help fight local and global concerns, such as terrorism.
Katya RyderOct 09, 2023467 Shares29163 ViewsCIA PARAMILITARY OPERATIONS OFFICERS - CIA’S ELITE SECRET OPERATIVES
“„There needs to be a semi-independent voice that voices the broader strategic perspectives and is not driven by the [intelligence] demands of day.- Robert L. Hutchings
“„The worry is not that Mike Hayden and Mike McConnell happen to be military officers; it’s that the system is now skewed to current intelligence, driven by military operations. That’s leaving too little left over for strategic analysis of what's going on more broadly.- Robert L. Hutchings
“„And that leads to [an echo chamber effect]: this is what’s presented to policy-makers, and it just reinforces the worldview they began with.- Robert L. Hutchings
“„There is a genuine risk of over-investing in military intelligence at the expense of larger strategic concerns.- Steven Aftergood
“„We could end up doing those things we know how to do well and failing to meet the new and emerging challenges that we don't quite know how to address.- Steven Aftergood
“„If the war Iraq resolved itself, and terrorism receded as a threat, we would still have serious intelligence challenges to contend with, and those are in danger of being shortchanged.- Steven Aftergood
“„The creation of the National Counterterrorism Center may have enhanced inter-agency coordination among terrorist operators, which is a good thing, but it has surely weakened coordination between them and the country and regional experts.- Robert L. Hutchings
“„The net result is that the intelligence community is probably stronger in tactical counterterrorist coordination but is surely weaker in strategic counterterrorism. While we are looking for the next car bomb, we may be missing the next generation of terrorist threats.- Robert L. Hutchings
“„In terms of warfighting [support], the folks who own all the units on the ground are perhaps two or three agencies, and they're not [part] of us. He’s correct, but this is the wrong example.- anonymous analyst at the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center
“„When talking with civilian intelligence officials, they say that when [the administration] went looking for a replacement for [former Director of National Intelligence] John Negroponte, the few civilians who were qualified for the job turned them down.- Matthew Morris Aid (1958-2018)
“„Intrinsic problems currently exist in intelligence today - the politicization, there’s a host of problems. If you’re an intelligence professional and a civilian, it’s almost a career killer to accept a senior position in the U.S. intelligence community now. A lot of people are waiting the nine months or however long for the next administration before accepting a promotion.- Matthew Morris Aid (1958-2018)
“„Since the end of World War II, there’s been an inherent tension between military and civilian consumers [of intelligence], who slug it out for the hearts and minds of collectors.- Matthew Morris Aid (1958-2018)
“„In times of war - and we’re in two and a half of them now - the military has taken control of the collection process. ... You end up having to give short shrift to strategic targets - North Korea, Iran, the former Soviet Union, the former Yugoslavia, China. There are only a finite amount of resources to play with.- Matthew Morris Aid (1958-2018)
“„The DNI has established a new ‘Long Range Analysis’ unit within the [National Intelligence Council], in accordance with a recommendation made by the WMD Commission.- Thomas Fingar
“„This new unit is purposely walled off from current demands so that it can focus on producing integrated, in-depth, strategic assessments and serve as a catalyst for such work throughout the [intelligence community].- Thomas Fingar
“„Support to military operations is certainly the most urgent day-to-day concern at the moment.- Steven Aftergood
“„But there are other concerns that may fall by the wayside as result of the focus on those day-to-day concerns.- Steven Aftergood
“„It’s the president's call. There needs to be a better sense at the very top that we need a broader perspective if we're to cope successfully with the multiple challenges we face.- Robert L. Hutchings
“„Our government should not commit expensive spy satellites and human intelligence sources to target something as undefined as the environment.- U.S. Representative Darrell Edward Issa (California)
“„It means that the leaders of the intelligence community have all arisen out of a military mindset and are habituated to seeing intelligence challenges and responses within a certain framework.- Steven Aftergood
“„It means both conceiving of threats and responses in military terms, and being unresponsive to issues and insights that might arise outside that familiar framework.- Steven Aftergood
“„People don't really value long-view intelligence.- Robert L. Hutchings
“„They may understand [the need for it] on some abstract level, or see diminishing resources spent other issues or topics, but they don’t care. They care about what they need right now: intelligence support for warfighters, whether in Afghanistan or Iraq.- Robert L. Hutchings
“„I think it's quite acute. I’m not speaking about specific dangers. I’m talking about the broad challenge of international terrorism. We’ve gotten so operational and so over-militarized that we’re only capable of thinking of this challenge in one dimension.- Robert L. Hutchings