Berto Jongman: CSIS on Rebuilding Trust in Intelligence — Really….

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CSIS Statement of Principles for Rebuilding Trust in Intelligence Activities

By Benjamin Wittes
Monday, May 19, 2014 at 5:55 PM

A group convened by the Center for Strategic and International Studies has issued a Statement of Principles for rebuilding trust in intelligence activities. It is signed by the following people:

Read list.

Phi Beta Iota: CSIS has produced a poor statement that is emplematic of the problem. We doubt any of the signers actually participated in a serious discussion. The time has clearly come for a total make-over of the legislation (including the zeroing out of NSA which has no legislative mandate). What is the mission? What are the sources? What are the methods? Who are the clients to be served? How can we best serve the public interest? CSIS did not ask any of these questions. Their “principles” are a publicity stunt thoughtlessly developed and badly executed. Until the intelligence community can produce intelligence (decision support) with integrity, instead of what it does now — spend money mindlessly and often very immorally — it will not deserve respect nor trust. New revelations are said to be forthcoming. The similarily of mind-set between the “leaders” of the secret world and the owners of the US financial system are quite stricking — idiocy mixed with impunity coated with arrogance and both totally divorced from the public interest. Not a single one of the six major flaws / goals identified in 1990 has been addressed in a quarter century with over 1.2 trillion dollars wasted. This malfeasance has been deliberate.