Posted on Sep 24, 2015
Should intelligence analysts be blunt and honest, or remain positive (to a fault)?
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A mentor and former boss of mine with nearly thirty years on Iraq is getting national attention for challenging senior intelligence officials at USCENTCOM. They reportedly edited assessments written by analysts with years of expertise to make things on the ground appear more positive to their superiors than they actually were/are.
Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF)
Iraq
Intelligence
Edited 10 y ago
Posted 10 y ago
Responses: 25
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Wow, this is very enlightening! I know many of the people identified in this article, as I was the Deputy Team Chief of Iraqi Ground Forces, at the onset of Operation Iraqi (and Enduring) Freedom.
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MSgt (Join to see) Neither is wholly correct.
Intelligence is all about taking the most reliable data you have, analyzing it, and presenting the closest semblance of truth and future likelihood. Reporting "facts" is news, not intelligence.
As the CJSOTF J2, my analysis frequently differed from my own junior analysts, from my boss, and from the General officers working for Corps and MNF-I. In that case, I always presented what I thought the most likely, most accurate, version; backed up with both the data and analysis that led to it. And to be intellectually honest, also address the competing viewpoints from others, with their analysis. And finally why I thought my version was more correct.
In that process, sometimes my own analysis would be swayed toward one of the others.
But at the end of the day, Commanders (not intelligence officers) decide which analysis they accept and act upon.
Intelligence is all about taking the most reliable data you have, analyzing it, and presenting the closest semblance of truth and future likelihood. Reporting "facts" is news, not intelligence.
As the CJSOTF J2, my analysis frequently differed from my own junior analysts, from my boss, and from the General officers working for Corps and MNF-I. In that case, I always presented what I thought the most likely, most accurate, version; backed up with both the data and analysis that led to it. And to be intellectually honest, also address the competing viewpoints from others, with their analysis. And finally why I thought my version was more correct.
In that process, sometimes my own analysis would be swayed toward one of the others.
But at the end of the day, Commanders (not intelligence officers) decide which analysis they accept and act upon.
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Without accurate analysis and assessments leaders won't be able to make the most informed decisions possible. Optimism belongs outside of facts.
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I want blunt and honest info. Don't sugar coat the info. Your talking about the lives of your troops who will be taking care of the problem.
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