KRC

Do you want me to bring up protestors at pro-life vs. pro-choice rallies? I see no difference between the two sides (you may want to just focus on one specific instance, I do not). Saying one is worse than the other is being either naiive or disingenuous.

The right is no better.

I am guessing that the media attention for this and the Kristol incident will spawn more copycat attacks on people. What's next? Entrees? Disgraceful behavior.

What is your opinion of my recommendation to eliminate the police officer role of the FBI and keep them in the intel business?

It gathers intel along with building the satellites.

There is no way that this happens. The domino effect (as mentioned by gantrules) would prevent it.

I don't agree there. NSA's cryptology and SIGINT fall under intel gathering. If you want to remove the IA (Information Assurance) part of NSA, then fine. You need to keep the remainder of the organization under one line of command. IMINT is used by the intel agencies. Why would the gathering of intelligence via IMINT be separated from the gathering of intel via HUMINT, etc.? This all falls under S&TI which belongs under one line of command.

National Inquirer?

I do not agree. NSA and NRO need to be part of the same intelligence structure. Why would they be separate?

It is always easier to find someone else to blame for our problems. "It can't possibly be my fault. It has to be someone else."

Which is the reason why the "Hot Pockets" definition was created.

Yeah, that's it.

Tell me about it. What was that saying about patience being a virtue?

Thanks. I have been studying the DPRK for several years.

What about the multitide of other intel agencies? Should they be scrapped and consolidated?

Weak. This is for charity. $90

$75

He still has complete control over the rural areas. He dicates to the farmers what they can and cannot grow. His minions are omnipresent in the rural areas. Where do you think the gulags are? The rural areas. He monitors cell phone usage in the rural areas. Don't even think about getting close to the borders (again, rural areas). KJI has complete control over the entire country. It is engrained in the Juche philosophy which is the basis for their entire way of life. The masses need the guidance of the leader in order to survive.

Kim Jong Il only has control of a small portion of his country?

I was with Rich.

OK, enough!! Get it out of your systems now, because by the end of the day I am going to close the thread.

Well, I did get an "A" for the exam and the semester. Thanks.

I agree that there is a little too much reliance on technology, but the other problem is radical thinking. You need to think outside-the-box if you want to be an intel analyst. Analysis is part science and part art. If you do not have analysts that can use both sides of their brain, then you will have "there is no chance that a terrorist will hijack a plane and fly it into the WTC" or "there is no way the Chinese will enter the Korean War." You need to think radically and you need managers willing to hear all points of view.

I am OK with this. I do not agree with this recommendation. Adding another layer of bureaucracy will not solve anything. It will just make the problem worse. I thought that this was the job of the new DNI? Again, more bureaucracy which will make the problem worse. In my midterm exam last semester, one of the questions was, "Recommend some improvements that might be achieved in WMD S&TI." Here were my answers, since they relate to intel in general: There seems to be glaring deficiencies in our S&TI programs as it relates to foreign governments. There is still no definitive word on the extent of the WMD programs in North Korea. With what happened regarding Iraq’s WMD programs, it is apparent that greater steps need to be taken to improve our S&TI programs. Since S&TI basically combines all other types of intelligence, reforms need to be done throughout the intelligence community in order to improve S&TI. -Better recruiting of intelligence personnel. Resources are needed, especially multi-lingual candidates who speak the languages of the countries of interest to the U.S. I suggest spending more time on college campuses recruiting candidates in fields like engineering, biology, chemistry and physics. -Find better ways of incorporating first generation Americans into the intelligence community. Background checks are extremely difficult, if not impossible for those (for example) who are of Middle Eastern descent. These are the people who speak the languages of countries of interest. They could more easily blend into the respective societies which would, in turn, help them gather better quality intelligence. -“Turf Wars” need to be eliminated. Centralize the intelligence community. Have agents follow cases across country borders, including our own. Intelligence agencies need to work together, not against each other. I, personally, do not believe in adding bureaucracy to an already bloated federal government. Centralizing this does not require adding to the government, but taking away. Some toes will be stepped on, but it is something that needs to be done. Combine the agencies together under one centralized management line, including military intelligence agencies. Again, turf wars are hurting the intelligence community, not helping it. I know that DHS was designed to alleviate some of these issues, but a substantial amount of work still needs to be done. -The FBI needs to focus on domestic intelligence, not work as police officers solving crimes that have already been committed. This is not what an intelligence agency should be doing. The work the FBI should be focusing on can help improve our S&TI program, including domestic threats from non-state actors. -Remove the politicization of intelligence (I know, easier said than done). There is too much CYA, where managers are covering up mistakes and decisions. This does not improve intelligence. One needs to learn from mistakes, and implement solutions to minimize these mistakes in the future. Also, politicization can be inserted in to intelligence analysis by having preconceived notions of the results before analysis has begun. All bias must be removed before analysis can begin. -Instill the attitude, “I do not know everything.” What I mean by this is that some very good intelligence is discounted because some within the intelligence community either cannot think outside the box, or are unwilling to consider points of view that contradict their own. Intelligence analysis is hurt when you analyze with preconceived notions of the outcome. “There is no way that a couple of terrorists could hijack a commercial airline and fly it into the World Trade Center,” is the type of attitude that needs to be eliminated. It was this attitude that prevented the UN forces in Korea from realizing that the Chinese were going to assist North Korea in the fighting of the Korean War. We obviously did not learn our lesson from 1950. -Improve technologies for infiltrating closed or semi-closed societies. WMD programs are going underground in order to prevent detection. S&TI technology must keep pace with this, and develop technologies that can still monitor underground activities.