2013-03-12 DNI to SSCI Threat Assessment
HIGHLIGHTS:
Recognizes how quickly and radically the world — and our threat environment — are changing.
“This environment is demanding reevaluations of the way we do business, expanding our analytic envelope, and altering the vocabulary of intellignece. Threats are more diverse, interconnected, and viral than at any other time in history.”
Recognizes the importance of integration across disciplines and domains — working toward multidisciplinary and multidomain.
The Introduction alone is reason enough to take the time to download the document.
ROBERT STEELE: This is a good read. I am particularly delighted that the introduction embraces the specific recommendations I have been making since 1988 within the government and since 1992 publicly. There is more that could be done in terms of outreach to people who will never have clearances, but this is a very fine start. I offer the following supplemental observations in support of the DNI's testimony.
Cyber
Among the mission areas assigned to the National Security Agency (NSA), the assurance of trusted communications for US commercial communications and computing including domestic supervisory control and data acquisition systems across all functionalities appears to require a great deal more oversight and performance evaluation; at the same time, the US Government appears to need a Center for Computational Mathematics and a Center for Real-Time Financial Transaction Analytics.
Given the central role played by digital financial transactions in relation to multi-billion dollar money laundering by US banks that have operated with virtual impunity for decades, a decision needs to be made, and appropriate resources devoted to, the application of NSA's proven capabilities against global financial crime rooted in US banks.
Internet Governance is a vital topic and its inclusion in this report is noteworthy. One of the most promising and innovative experts in the world on emerging alternative paradigms for Internet Governance is here in Washington DC completing a Yahoo! Fellowship with the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University. Dr. Francesca Musiani does not have a clearance and is not a US citizen. She leaves in June. Her email is francesca.musiani AT gmail DOT com. It would also be beneficial for the IC to be paying Dr. Gordon Cook for Reference: Cook Report on Internet Protocol and at least quarterly consulting, his email is cook AT cookreport.com. Stephen E. Arnold continues to be my virtual CTO and remains a genius. Arnold IT is critical starting point and second opinion for anyone that wants to be moderately tuned in or better.
Terrorism and Transnational Crime
The report includes under this rubric Money Laundering, Corruption, Human Trafficking, and Environmental Crime. A decision needs to be made, and appropriate resources devoted to, the application of NSA's proven capabilities against these specific crimes as they are being planned and perpetuated in the USA.
WMD Proliferation
The time has come to hold Israel accountable for its nuclear capabilities. Regardless of what US policy may be, let's get the truth on the table. Of particular concern is the increased influence of Germany as a proliferator of WMD and their delivery systems.
Counterintelligence
This is a specialty area that is long overdue for its own agency, one reporting directly to the DNI and integrating all counter-intelligence capabilities — such as they are — across all government and related industry functions. The single greatest counterintelligence threat is that which undermines the integrity of the US Government decision-making process with respect to strategy, policy, acquisition, and operations. On a scale of 1 to 100 with 100 being perfect, the USA would appear to be around a 15 in traditional national security domains, and closer to zero everywhere else (e.g. agriculture, energy, health). It may be that there are some substantial benefits to combining Counterintelligence and the Inspector General functions, and having this new agency report to the enhanced Deputy Director for Management in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
Natural Resources: Insecurity and Competition
The long-standing concerns of the White House and other Cabinet agencies remain to be addressed. We still do not do integrated domestic and global Whole of Government analytics. Beyond that we still do not do whole systems and true cost analytics. A Presidential initiative for an Open Source Agency (OSA) could and should include the Center for Computational Mathematics as well as a Center for True Cost Economics.
Health and Pandemic Threats
We are our greatest enemies. Until the US Government decides to be serious about the hidden dangers of virtually every aspect of America's agricultural, biological, chemical, energy, and medical industrial, we will continue to suffer a proliferation of diseases and pandemics, most of them traceable back to inadequately or dishonestly tested offerings. The toxification of the environment, and of virtually every product placed into homes or used in office building, will not be arrested until preventive health measures and the precautionary principle — and honest laboratory testing — become standard.
Mass Atrocities.
Poverty has doubled in the USA in the past twelve years. Who does National Intelligence Estimates on the enemies with our borders that betray the public trust?
Pedophilia can be considered a mass atrocity. The evidence is considerable that the Catholic Church as well as “existentialists” across America's elite have imposed horrible persistent abuse on children of all ages, to include a nation-wide marketplace for orphans sold by the Catholic Church into varied forms of sexual vocations. The FBI has refused to be serious about this, and one sometimes has the impression that the FBI spends more time protecting elite pedophiles than they do investigating major crimes by white collar criminals. This is a nation-wide scourge. Who's in charge? Why is this not on the table as Priority One?
In relation to the regional and country assessments, I respectfully take two footnotes:
01 Israel needs to be treated publicly, not secretly. The absence of Israel from this document means the absence of essential context. It may be that time has come for two National Intelligence Studies, one internal and one multinational in nature, on “what to do about Israel.” What we have been doing is NOT WORKING. This needs a level of intellect and integrity such as was applied to the Soviet Union in the immediate aftermath of WWII — not to treat Israel as an enemy, but rather to treat Israel as a beloved relative that has lost their mind and is a danger to themselves and all others.
02 Venezuela and Cuba are not threats to the USA. They are only threats to predatory US banking and corporate interests that are accustomed to being bailed out by the US Armed Forces at taxpayer expense. The Organization of American States (OAS) is comatose because it lacks integrity and legitimacy. The single best thing the USA could do is turn the OAS building over to CELAC, fund the OSA, and get serious about integrating Open Source Everything (OSE) with Multinational, Multiagency, Multidisciplinary, Multidomain Information-Sharing and Sense-Making (M4IS2). See Also Greg Palast on “Hugo Chavez vs. “The Network.””
See Also:
INTELLIGENCE with INTEGRITY: Enabling Hybrid Public Governance with Open-Source Decision-Support (work in progress)
Robert Steele Biography and Linked Publications
