AMU Homeland Security Intelligence Middle East Opinion

New Report Critical of Intelligence Agencies and Efforts in Afghanistan

By Jenni Hesterman, Counterterrorism Expert
Counter Terror Forum
The Center for a New American Security released a report today entitled “Fixing Intel: A Blueprint for Making Intelligence Relevant in Afghanistan“.
Here is the opening statement and it is an attention grabber:
“Eight years into the war in Afghanistan, the U.S. intelligence community is only marginally relevant to the overall strategy. Having focused the overwhelming majority of its collection efforts and analytical brainpower on insurgent groups, the vast intelligence apparatus is unable to answer fundamental questions about the environment in which U.S. and allied forces operate and the people they seek to persuade. Ignorant of local economics and landowners, hazy about who the powerbrokers are and how they might be influenced, incurious about the correlations between various development projects and the levels of cooperation among villagers, and disengaged from people in the best position to find answers – whether aid workers or Afghan soldiers – U.S. intelligence officers and analysts can do little but shrug in response to high level decision-makers seeking the knowledge, analysis, and information they need to wage a successful counterinsurgency.”
In the report, Major General Michael Flynn, the Deputy Chief of Staff of Intelligence for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) is critical of U.S. intelligence agencies and the overall effort in Afghanistan. The BBC picked up on this report with headlines like: “US spies in Afghanistan are clueless, says intelligence chief”
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/Afghanistan/article6976278.ece
The release of the report, the recent bombing of a CIA outpost in Afghanistan and associated counterintelligence failures, and the inability of U.S. agencies to “connect the dots” on the Christmas Day airline bombing attempt has put intelligence and law enforcement agencies under scrutiny.
I am interested to hear your comments on this report, and the events of the last few weeks. Are we resource-constrained? Are the cultural differences between agencies insurmountable? Is information shared, traded or withheld?

Comments are closed.