2000 ON INTELLIGENCE: Spies and Secrecy in an Open World p. 42
2012 USA Intelligence Scorecard – Deja Vu 2000 5 of 5
Capabilities-Force Structure, Government, IneptitudeMini-Me: Obama Approves CIA War on Syria, CIA & Arabs Arming Islamic Militants Instead — But Wait, Could This Be Smoke Related to Benghazi-Based Acts of War on Syria?
Corruption, Government, Ineptitude, Media, Military
Huh?
Jason Howerton
The Blaze, 5 December 2012
U.S.-Approved Arms for Libya Rebels Fell Into Jihadis’ Hands
By JAMES RISEN, MARK MAZZETTI and MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT
New York Times, December 5, 2012
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration secretly gave its blessing to arms shipments to Libyan rebels from Qatar last year, but American officials later grew alarmed as evidence grew that Qatar was turning some of the weapons over to Islamic militants, according to United States officials and foreign diplomats.
. . . . . . .
“To do this right, you have to have on-the-ground intelligence and you have to have experience,” said Vali Nasr, a former State Department adviser who is now dean of the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, part of Johns Hopkins University. “If you rely on a country that doesn’t have those things, you are really flying blind. When you have an intermediary, you are going to lose control.”
Tip of the Hat to Jaimi Miller and Richard Byrd at Google+.
Berto Jongman: Joshua Foust on Chaotic Intelligence Community
Corruption, Government, Idiocy, Ineptitude
Chaotic Intelligence Community
American Security Project Flashpoint Blog
posted by Joshua Foust on December 5, 2012 at 11:56 am
The Washington Post reported over the weekend that the Pentagon is sendinghundreds of spies overseas as part of its rapid expansion into espionage- an endeavor rivaling the CIA. The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) will oversee this effort, expected to top the deployment of 1,600 agents worldwide. And it is the wrong approach.
Continue reading “Berto Jongman: Joshua Foust on Chaotic Intelligence Community”
Marcus Aurelius: Max Boot on Better Spies, Not More
Corruption, Government, Ineptitude
By Max Boot
Los Angeles Times, December 6, 2012, Pg. 19
The Defense Intelligence Agency is planning to dramatically expand the ranks of its covert “collectors” — a.k.a. case officers or, more popularly, spies. It has 500 or so and hopes to double that number.
There is nothing inherently wrong with this plan, which is being pushed by the DIA's new director, Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn. It is unlikely to lead to a militarization of U.S. foreign policy, as some fear — the military is already the dominant player in the intelligence community, with its control not only of the Defense Department's DIA but also the National Security Agency and other high-tech outfits.
The real question is, will a beefed-up DIA make up for the intelligence community's long-standing difficulties in acquiring high-quality human intelligence? On that score, unfortunately, there is real cause for doubt.
Continue reading “Marcus Aurelius: Max Boot on Better Spies, Not More”
Lynn Wheeler: Fukushima Lies Continue
03 Economy, 07 Health, 07 Other Atrocities, 08 Proliferation, 11 Society, Commerce, Corruption, Earth Intelligence, Government, Idiocy, Ineptitude
Government and Industry Still Denying Science at Fukushima
John LaForge
CounterPunch, 5 December 2012
EXTRACT
Disinformation and denials confounded by science
Official lullabies, denials and attempted cover-ups are desperate shields against the enormous economic and legal liability that would follow any acknowledgment of the depth and breadth of radiation’s likely effects. Tepco said Nov. 6 that it may need 11 trillion yen, or $137 billion, to cover its damages. Tokyo already set aside ¥9 trillion in July as part of the federal bailout and takeover of the utility. Minister Edano hinted last May that the government may cover some of the costs of decontaminating certain limited areas. Comprehensive decontamination is not even being considered because, as the science ministry reported in Nov. 2011, radioactive fallout from the triple meltdowns was found in every one of its 57 prefectures.#
The journal Science reported this fall that 40% of the fish caught off the coast of NE Japan are contaminated with radioactive cesium at levels well above what the government allows.** Author Ken Buesseler of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution concluded that there is either a source of cesium on the seafloor, or it is still being dumped into the ocean by Tepco.
Josh Kilbourn: 80% of Retired Admirals & Generals Roll Into Defense Contracting Positions — the Conflicts of Interest are Legendary — and Allowed
Corruption, Ineptitude, Military
The Shocking Statistics Behind The Pentagon's Revolving Door ‘Policy'
Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge, 12/03/2012
High ranking generals and admirals earn their stars. They earn their stripes. Then, they earn their cash. New research by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) found 70% of the 108 three-and-four star generals and admirals who retired between 2009 and 2011 took jobs with defense contractor or consultants. In at least a few cases, the retirees have continued to advise the Department of Defense while on the payroll of defense contractors, suggesting the Pentagon may not always be receiving unbiased counsel.
A Boston Globe investigation revealed the number of retired three-and-four star generals and admirals moving into lucrative defense industry jobs rose from less than 50% between 1994 and 1998 to a stratospheric 80% between 2004 and 2008.
Winsdlow Wheeler: Post-Downturn Pentagon to be UGLY…
Corruption, Government, Ineptitude, Military
Two things seem clear to me: the Pentagon budget is going down, and pretty much no one in Washington wants to impose the three fundamental reforms needed to enable DOD to prosper in an era of lower budgets. I explain my point of view in a new article in Foreign Policy and below.
EXTRACT:
They are laying the groundwork for the same Pentagon as the one we have now, just at somewhat lower spending levels with several fewer programs — and more of the remaining ones funded at unrealistically lower levels than usual.
BY WINSLOW WHEELER | NOVEMBER 30, 2012
Amidst the many uncertainties and machinations in the negotiations in Washington on the “fiscal cliff,” a few things are beginning to emerge as certain. Among them: the defense budget will be going down. Another is that none of the parties to the negotiations is seeking the kind of change that the Pentagon must undergo to survive effectively, even prosper, under significantly reduced budgets.
The new, post-election reality of a declining Department of Defense (DOD) budget was signaled by a conglomeration of mainstream think tank pundits, Capitol Hill staffers from both political parties, industry and executive branch defense specialists, and retired military officers put together by the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments: They opined on not whether the defense budget was about to decline significantly but on how to do it. (Some of them had some pretty horrible ideas; more on that later.) The new reality of less money for DOD was also made clear in a provocative summary of five different think tanks reports at Foreign Policy by Gordon Adams.
Continue reading “Winsdlow Wheeler: Post-Downturn Pentagon to be UGLY…”
