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US intelligence still flawed; time for change. (moved from ATSNN)
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Faulty intelligence is not been somethig new in Bush's vocabulary. He openly admitted he was given bad intelligence before the Iraq war and now
he's saying it will take years do undo the harm. A new commision has outlined some possible changes the administration should take on to fix this
problem. Hopefully these new guidelines will straighten out the problem and be recieved as positively by the administration.
www.reuters.com
U.S. intelligence on Iraq was "dead wrong" in almost all cases before the Iraq war and flaws are still all too common throughout an American spy community that requires a major overhaul, a presidential commission reported on Thursday.
The commission's report, ordered by President Bush after he launched the Iraq war two years ago based on intelligence about its weapons programs that proved to be false, said the harm done to American credibility "will take years to undo."
"We conclude that the intelligence community was dead wrong in almost all of its prewar judgments about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction," the commissioners wrote.
And at a time when the United States is accusing Iran of nuclear ambitions and pressuring North Korea, the report said: "Across the board, the intelligence community knows disturbingly little about the nuclear programs of many of the world's most dangerous actors."
Bush, accused of hyping the intelligence on Iraq in order to pursue a costly war with a deadly aftermath, and his inner circle escaped direct blame.
"In the end, those agencies collected precious little intelligence for the analysts to analyze, and much of what they did collect was either worthless or misleading," it said.
The commission made a series of recommendations, many of which the White House was expected to embrace.
The recommendations included:
* creation of a national counter-proliferation center to combat the spread of weapons of mass destruction.
* establishing a separate National Security Service within the FBI that includes the bureau's counterintelligence and counterterrorism divisions, as well as the Directorate of Intelligence.
* designate a point-person under the new director of national intelligence who will be responsible for both information sharing and information security "in order to break down cultural and policy barriers."
* create a new Human Intelligence Directorate within the CIA to ensure the coordination of all U.S. agencies conducting human intelligence operations overseas.
* establish an organization to perform only long-term and strategic analysis under the National Intelligence Council.
* create a non-profit "sponsored research institute" that would function outside the intelligence community and provide a "critical window" by conducting its own intelligence research and analysis.
Bush has nominated John Negroponte to become director of national intelligence, but he is yet to be confirmed by the Senate. The job was established to better coordinate intelligence in the wake of the Iraq failures.
Please visit the link provided for the complete story.
In a time when the Defense senior staff is ready to retire or has already, i dont think this is a bad idea. Start over and fix the problems so that this whole false intelligence thing doesnt happen again. This is very critical, especially when the US is now accusing Iran and North Korea of having nuclear weapons. Mind you NK has admitted to having them, but can you trust the figures the US is putting out? Then again, can you trust the North Korean numbers either? I don't like how the US admitted to having false intelligence over the Iraq war and then go goes on to say some senseless cliche like "it will take years to undo". I don't like how no one is really taking the responsibility here, especially Bush. This is his staff, this is his administration, why isn't he getting the blame? Why is it always someone down the line that gets fired or replaced?
[edit on 31-3-2005 by LuDaCrIs]
www.reuters.com
U.S. intelligence on Iraq was "dead wrong" in almost all cases before the Iraq war and flaws are still all too common throughout an American spy community that requires a major overhaul, a presidential commission reported on Thursday.
The commission's report, ordered by President Bush after he launched the Iraq war two years ago based on intelligence about its weapons programs that proved to be false, said the harm done to American credibility "will take years to undo."
"We conclude that the intelligence community was dead wrong in almost all of its prewar judgments about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction," the commissioners wrote.
And at a time when the United States is accusing Iran of nuclear ambitions and pressuring North Korea, the report said: "Across the board, the intelligence community knows disturbingly little about the nuclear programs of many of the world's most dangerous actors."
Bush, accused of hyping the intelligence on Iraq in order to pursue a costly war with a deadly aftermath, and his inner circle escaped direct blame.
"In the end, those agencies collected precious little intelligence for the analysts to analyze, and much of what they did collect was either worthless or misleading," it said.
The commission made a series of recommendations, many of which the White House was expected to embrace.
The recommendations included:
* creation of a national counter-proliferation center to combat the spread of weapons of mass destruction.
* establishing a separate National Security Service within the FBI that includes the bureau's counterintelligence and counterterrorism divisions, as well as the Directorate of Intelligence.
* designate a point-person under the new director of national intelligence who will be responsible for both information sharing and information security "in order to break down cultural and policy barriers."
* create a new Human Intelligence Directorate within the CIA to ensure the coordination of all U.S. agencies conducting human intelligence operations overseas.
* establish an organization to perform only long-term and strategic analysis under the National Intelligence Council.
* create a non-profit "sponsored research institute" that would function outside the intelligence community and provide a "critical window" by conducting its own intelligence research and analysis.
Bush has nominated John Negroponte to become director of national intelligence, but he is yet to be confirmed by the Senate. The job was established to better coordinate intelligence in the wake of the Iraq failures.
Please visit the link provided for the complete story.
In a time when the Defense senior staff is ready to retire or has already, i dont think this is a bad idea. Start over and fix the problems so that this whole false intelligence thing doesnt happen again. This is very critical, especially when the US is now accusing Iran and North Korea of having nuclear weapons. Mind you NK has admitted to having them, but can you trust the figures the US is putting out? Then again, can you trust the North Korean numbers either? I don't like how the US admitted to having false intelligence over the Iraq war and then go goes on to say some senseless cliche like "it will take years to undo". I don't like how no one is really taking the responsibility here, especially Bush. This is his staff, this is his administration, why isn't he getting the blame? Why is it always someone down the line that gets fired or replaced?
[edit on 31-3-2005 by LuDaCrIs]
These guys were right on and didn't pull punches.
It begins here. The Administration did not want to hear anything from their analysts that disagreed with the current Administrations focus.
This led to complete onesided views that supported the war.
Which we found out was just a smoke screen.
This led to having worthless intelligence to provide to people like Collin Powell and build a campaign of war.
In other articles pertaining to this you also find comments like this:
Beyond Iraq. Where? Here in America? Who needs rights here in America? Apparently these people don't belive Americans do as they mention here....
Lets build an Intelligence community that "run risks"... Like violate American Citizens rights? I guess. Create a "new generation of Americans". Who are sheeple, who sit back and don't mind if their rights are violated. Its for their own protection from Terrorists around every corner with their WMD's.
Phae
“It is hard to deny the conclusion that intelligence analysts worked in an environment that did not encourage skepticism about the conventional wisdom.”
It begins here. The Administration did not want to hear anything from their analysts that disagreed with the current Administrations focus.
"the daily reports sent to the president and senior policymakers discussing Iraq over many months proved to be disastrously one-sided."
This led to complete onesided views that supported the war.
“we conclude that the intelligence community was dead wrong in almost all of its prewar judgments about Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction. This was a major intelligence failure.”
Which we found out was just a smoke screen.
"In the end, those agencies collected precious little intelligence for the analysts to analyze, and much of what they did collect was either worthless or misleading,"
This led to having worthless intelligence to provide to people like Collin Powell and build a campaign of war.
In other articles pertaining to this you also find comments like this:
The panel also considered a range of intelligence issues beyond Iraq, including congressional oversight, satellite imagery and electronic snooping.
Beyond Iraq. Where? Here in America? Who needs rights here in America? Apparently these people don't belive Americans do as they mention here....
“We need an intelligence community that is truly integrated, far more imaginative and willing to run risks, open to a new generation of Americans and receptive to new technologies.”
Lets build an Intelligence community that "run risks"... Like violate American Citizens rights? I guess. Create a "new generation of Americans". Who are sheeple, who sit back and don't mind if their rights are violated. Its for their own protection from Terrorists around every corner with their WMD's.
Phae
(from story URL)
The commission said it found no evidence that the White House or the Pentagon put political pressure on analysts to color the intelligence to back up their claims.
Probably true. Can't find something you deliberately ignore.
These 'commissions' are political smoke agents. Finger pointing has become part and parcel of American politics. This is not new. I suspect the painting of fault by commissions not matter what they are called has gone on for hundreds if not thousands of years.
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