Ambassador Mark Palmer is one of the most thoughtful, focused, practical, and hence impressive professional diplomats we have ever encountered. His book, Defeating the Real Axis of Evil, made a profound impression on all of us thinking about how to create a prosperous world at peace, and was the final nail in the coffin of U.S. foreign policy–no foreign policy that relies on supporting 42 of 44 dictators can possibly have morality, legitimacy, reciprocity, or transparency, all vital attributes if we are to nuture humanity toward clarity, diversity, integrity, and sustainability. Our review of the below book is entitled: Single Most Important Work of the Century for American Moral Diplomacy, and was posted November 30, 2003. We still believe that.
General Schoomaker and Congressman Rob Simmons understood each other. The letter below, from Congressman Simmons to General Schoomaker, was intended to give General Schoomaker an opportunity to instruct LtGen Keith Alexander, then Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence , as to his duties. A change in Army doctrine resulted, and separate Open Source Intelligence (OSINT)doctrine was developed, but developed very badly. The Army G-2 mafia never took OSINT serioiusly as a separate discipline, and together with the Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) never growing past its broadcast monitoring role, was a severe impediment to progress in this arena. LtGen Alexander, today the Director of the National Security Agency (NSA) understood how to use OSINT in support of ABLE DANGER and in support of NSA missions, but he never understood the urgency of making OSINT a discipline in its own right that could be used to support all of the Army's mission areas, Whole of Government inter-agency planning, programming, and campaign execution, and even less so, coalition and multinational multifunctional operations with Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO), such as the Defense Advanced Programs Agency (DARPA) has consistently supported with its annual STRONG ANGEL exercise.
When Congressman Simmons lost by 80 votes in 2006, in large part because two newspapers in his District did not do their homeword and turned against him for not having “big ideas”–nothing could have been further from the truth–the Army G-2 mafia immediately down-graded OSINT, relegating it to contractors who know nothing of OSINT and refuse to sub-contract experts who do. With the exception of the OSINT unit at the US Special Operations Command, Army OSINT is totally hosed today, and much in need of a G-2 that understands both “full-spectrum” HUMINT and “full-spectrum” OSINT. They have no bench from which to find such a person.
For his constant demonstration of the utility of Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) in the understanding of social networks, emerging technologies, and cultural realities. As a world-renowned authority on information and communications, with a deep understanding of the public policy value of open source information, he has made himself available around the world, and had much more influence than most realize. His publication of the book, “The Google Legacy,” is a mere milestone in one of the most distinguished information careers in the world.
PLATINUM Jack Davis, De Facto Dean of the U.S. Intelligence Analytic Corps
For over three decades, Jack Davis has been the heir to Sherman Kent and the mentor to all those who would strive to be the world’s most effective all-source intelligence analysts. As a Central Intelligence Agency analyst and educator, he combines intellect, integrity, insight, and an insatiable appetite for interaction with all manner of individuals regardless of rank and disposition. He is the most able pioneer of “analytic tradecraft,” the best proponent for the value of human analysis over technical processing, and one of those very special individuals who helped define the end of 20th Century centralized analysis and the beginning of 21st Century distributed multinational multiagency analysis.
Clicking on the photo leads to a seminal essay by Jack Davis on Sherman Kent and the Analytic Craft.
Below are his origional reflections prepared for OSS '03. At the Frog is a link to his unqiue collection of memoranda on Analytic Tradecraft.
Jack DavisJack Davis Compendium of Analytic Tradecraft Notes
Dr. Ran Hock has done more than any single individual to educate both government and private sector parties with respect to the value of the deep web. He has single-handedly trained hundreds of individuals in the nuances of this major new intelligence resource base. Emphasizing individual analytic skills and common sense rather than arcane expensive and generally unproductive technologies, he represents the intersection of integrity, intelligence, and intuition in the service of all legitimate governments and organizations.
The Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) revolution began in 1988, and one could say that the Internet revolution began to sweep seriously into government in 1993 or so, that is the year that both DDCI Bill Studeman and Robert Steele both got emails and websites. Dr. Ran Hock has been “the” online access trainer of choice for the multinational audience choosing to attend the annual conferences, and the handbooks he created, new each year, have been prized references.
Below is his presentation to OSS '03 (actually just the summary), and on the right, click on the Frog to go to the current up-to-date OSINT Handbook Online that he maintains.
Dr. Joseph Markowitz is without question the most qualified Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) pioneer in the ranks of those presently in or retired from U.S. government service. As the only real chief of the Community Open Source Program Office (COSPO) he tried valiantly to nurture a program being systematically undermined by both the leadership and the traditional broadcast monitoring service. When he moved on to advise the Defense Science Board, he served America well by helping them fully integrate the need for both defense open source information collection and exploitation, and defense information sharing with non-governmental organizations. His persistent but diplomatic efforts merit our greatest regard.
Clicking on the photograph leads to the 1995 Strategic Plan that was rejected by a series of Directors of Central Intelligence (DCI) for all the wrong reasons. Since then Dr. Markowitz has written the Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) elements of all the major Defense Science Board (DSB) reports, and it is to his credit, as well as that of Don Gessaman, that the most senior civilians in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) fully understand both the draconian short-falls in our capaiblity, and the ease with which they could be resolved.
