Small Wars Journal

Playing Politics with Intelligence is an Old Game with New Players

Mon, 08/31/2015 - 1:12pm

Playing Politics with Intelligence is an Old Game with New Players by Howard Altman, Tampa Tribune

… The IC routinely produces a wide range of subjective assessments related to the current security environment, Ryder said.

“Prior to publication, it is customary for the IC to coordinate these intelligence assessments,” he said. “More specifically, members of the IC are typically provided an opportunity to comment on draft assessments.”

But it is up to the primary agency or organization whether to incorporate any recommended changes or additions to those assessments, Ryder said.

So what’s the big deal if those changes are ignored or additions are skewed?

That’s the question I asked of several former IC members, who all spoke in general terms, with no direct knowledge of the allegations against Centcom…

Read on.

Comments

Mark Pyruz

Tue, 09/01/2015 - 12:25am

There's IC-related politics being played out in the article itself.

Iranian President Khatami and the Iranian IC at the time pointed to Al-Qaeda as the perpetrators of the Khobar Bombing. Their account squares with this later rendering provided by journalist Gareth Porter:

http://www.aina.org/news/20090712135505.htm