Topics (All Other) – Page 254 – Public Intelligence Blog

Shifting Gold Bars Sank the Rust Bucket — Original Op-Ed Online

Strengthening Our Nation's Front Line Of Defense

By Dennis C. Blair

Friday, December 18, 2009

Phi Beta Iota: This is a seriously misleading article, our comments are provided after each paragraph.

The legislation authorizing post-Sept. 11 intelligence reform — the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 — was signed into law five years ago this week. We are often asked whether the new organizations, authorities and additional resources have made a difference. The answer is yes.

Phi Beta Iota: In combination with the Patriot Act, which was not read before passage, the legislation has perpetuated all of the bad practices of the past and poured gasoline on the fire by giving incompetent intelligence managers more money. America is less safe today because of the combination of $75 billion a year wasted on a system that still does not process more than 10% of what it collects, still cannot do machine speed multi-lingual exploitation, and still cannot do multinational human engagement and multi-lingual open source.

To be clear, the task of reinventing our intelligence structure and integrating the capabilities, cultures and information technologies of 16 diverse intelligence agencies is massive, and it is incomplete. Problems persist in our technologies, business practices and mind-sets. I have no illusions about how challenging they will be to overcome. But there is an ocean of difference between difficult and impossible.

Phi Beta Iota: Every single criticism in ON INTELLIGENCE: Spies and Secrecy in an Open World (AFCEA, 2000) remains valid today. NOTHING HAS CHANGED in the way of fundamentals. The clandestine service is still full of cowboys under official cover; there still is no processing; the CIA analysts are babies and the DIA analysts are brain dead; technical sources are too big, too late, and too expensive; the list is long. Analysts still spend a quarter of their time trying to access the disparate classified databases at the same time that the Open Source Center remains a national disgrace, unable to do multinational engagement and totally out of touch with the 80% of the information we need that is free, open, and in 183 languages we do not speak. Note: Blair has a set of Steele's book in his possession, he obviously has not read them or this article of his would be completely different. He has no power, no authority, no vision, and with the possible exception of Andy Shepard, no one with a proven track record of knowing what is actually needed–Shepard knew in 1992 and has had to wait 17 years to be heard.

Continue reading “Journal: Director of National Intelligence Alleges….”

2009/12/182010/09/02

Reference: Countries at the Crossroads

Geospatial, United Nations & NGOs

Countries at the Crossroads is an annual survey of government performance in 70 strategically important countries worldwide that are at a critical crossroads in determining their political future. The in-depth comparative analyses and quantitative ratings – examining government accountability, civil liberties, rule of law, anticorruption efforts and transparency – are intended to help international policymakers identify areas of progress, as well as to highlight areas of concern that could be addressed in diplomatic efforts and reform assistance.

A new edition of Crossroads is published each year, with one set of 35 countries analyzed in odd years and the other 35 in even years. Crossroads reports are written and evaluated by some of the most prominent independent experts available for each country.

Lists by Region

The Interactive map color-codes all Crossroads countries based on their government performance, and provides policy recommendations and each country's status in the Millennium Challenge Account process. By clicking on the hyperlink within the pop-up boxes, users can access the most recent country reports.

2006/2007 Interactive Map

Countries at the Crossroads Blog

Phi Beta Iota: As recommended by Berto Jongman. These countries are precisely what General Al Gray, then Commandant of the Marine Corps, was thinking about when he advocated, in 1989, that we get serious about “peaceful preventive measures.”

2009/12/182009/12/18

Reference: Map of Multilateral Peace Operation Deployments

Geospatial, United Nations & NGOs

SIPRI Map of Multilateral Peace Operation Deployments

Click to enlarge

This SIPRI map presents a snapshot of multilateral peace operation deployments worldwide in September 2009. Using data drawn from the SIPRI Multilateral Peace Operations Database, it shows where missions are taking place, how large they are and which organizations and coalitions are conducting them.
Download this SIPRI Map.

Publisher: SIPRI
1 page (A3)
November 2009

Phi Beta Iota: Berto Jongman recommends this. All of these operations are what we envisioned being supported with M4IS2 out of the embedded Multinational Decision Support Center within the Defense Open Source Center as described in 2009 DoD OSINT Leadership and Staff Briefings.

2009/12/182009/12/20

Reference: One Tribe at a Time by Maj Jim Gant

04 Inter-State Conflict, 05 Civil War, 08 Wild Cards, Analysis, Civil Society, DoD, Ethics, InfoOps (IO), Methods & Process, Military, Monographs, Peace Intelligence

Phi Beta Iota: This is a brilliant piece of work, precisely what we should have been doing from 1988 onwards. It is probably too late only because the US Government is incapable of a 180 degree turn that puts two Berlin Airlifts in motion, one to Afghanistan and one to Iraq, with each redirected to Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen as the process moves forward.

Edit of 20 Dec 09: This article is one of two cited by a top US flag officer speaking to COINSOC in Iraq. The other one is Reference: PK Officer View on AF.

2009/12/182009/12/18

Reference: One Tribe at a Time by Steven Pressfield

04 Inter-State Conflict, 05 Civil War, 08 Wild Cards, Civil Society, Cultural Intelligence, Methods & Process, Military, Peace Intelligence, Strategy

This blog is that of Steven Pressfield is the author of Gates of Fire and four other historical novels set in the ancient world, including The Afghan Campaign. His most recent book is Killing Rommel, a WWII story. He is also the author of The Legend of Bagger Vance and The War of Art.

The blog entries below begin with a feature of the work now available in the full original, Reference: One Tribe at a Time by Maj Jim Gant and then segue into new work by Steven Pressfield.

Interview w/Tribal Chief #11: Pakistan, continued

One Tribe At A Time #10: A Report from embedded journalist Andrew Lubin

Continue reading “Reference: One Tribe at a Time by Steven Pressfield”

2009/12/172009/12/17

Journal: Obliviousness–and Lies–Kill Own’s Own

Collaboration Zones, Communities of Practice, Ethics, Key Players, Policies, Strategy, Threats

That Tap Water Is Legal but May Be Unhealthy

The 35-year-old federal law regulating tap water is so out of date that the water Americans drink can pose what scientists say are serious health risks — and still be legal.

Only 91 contaminants are regulated by the Safe Drinking Water Act, yet more than 60,000 chemicals are used within the United States, according to Environmental Protection Agency estimates. Government and independent scientists have scrutinized thousands of those chemicals in recent decades, and identified hundreds associated with a risk of cancer and other diseases at small concentrations in drinking water, according to an analysis of government records by The New York Times.

Continue reading “Journal: Obliviousness–and Lies–Kill Own's Own”

2009/12/172009/12/17

Journal: US Has No Strategy…

Strategy

Full Story Online

Overall Strategy Is Needed

U.S. can't prevail with piecemeal approaches

By Lawrence J. Korb, Sean Duggan and Laura Conley

When President Obama announced his decision to deploy 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan, he presented a clear argument for why he believes U.S. national security is threatened by violence and extremism in that country and in the region.

What was missing from the speech, however, was a sense of how and to what degree continued U.S. involvement in that region fits into the United States' comprehensive national security agenda. That evaluation is the key to keeping U.S. foreign policy consistent and balanced, and should be based on the president's national security strategy (NSS).

Almost one year has passed since Mr. Obama's inauguration, and the White House has yet to issue that seminal document.

Continue reading “Journal: US Has No Strategy…”