I thought this was a pretty decent read. No wonder people thing I work for CSIS. I’m sure they have some sort of file on me. I always get the twice-over during air travel.
The craft of CIA analysis was designed to be an all-source operation, meaning that we analysts were responsible – and held accountable – for assimilating information from all sources and coming to judgments on what it all meant. We used information of all kinds, from the most sophisticated technical collection platforms to spies to open media.
Here I have to reveal a trade secret, which punctures the mystique of intelligence analysis. Generally speaking, 80 percent of the information one needs to form judgments on key intelligence targets or issues is available in open media.
It helps to have training from past masters of media analysis, which began in a structured way in targeting Japanese and German media in the 1940s. But, truth be told, everyone with a high-school education can do it. It is not rocket science.
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islandgrovepress 08.25.07 at 7:26 pm
Analyst. Ha.
No wonder it’s taking us six years to lose this f*cking war.
Ivan