Intelligence Update 20161218 – LTG Flynn’s views of the CIA, Flynn sharing secrets inappropriately while in Afghanistan, CIA’s classified cloud, America’s ‘Top Spy Catcher’, an Intelligence Officer’s guide to dissent, Trump and the intelligence community, and more.
CIA’s Classified Cloud. The intelligence community’s expensive Amazon-built project is proving to be worthwhile. Amazon Web Services endeavor is reducing the time it takes to bring new software into the IC. Read more in “The CIA’s Classified Cloud Is Reducing Task From Months to Minutes”, Defense One, December 15, 2016.
Flynn Critic of CIA. The man who will be President-Elect Trump’s national security advisor – retired General Mike Flynn – is a harsh critic of the Central Intelligence Agency. Some believe that Flynn looks at the CIA as a political tool of the Obama administration. He also says that the CIA has missed the boat in its analysis of ISIS, the Taliban, and other threats around the world. Read more in “Michael Flynn Is Harsh Judge of C.I.A.’s Role”, The New York Times, December 12, 2016.
‘Top Spy Catcher’. William Evanina, the director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, is in charge of keeping America’s secrets secret. Data breaches, Russian and Chinese hacking, spies, insider threats, and more keep his agency very busy. Read more on his job and how he does it. “For America’s Top Spy Catcher, A World of Problems to Fix – and Prevent”, NPR Parallels, December 20, 2016.
Flynn Sharing Secrets? Recent news reports say that Trump’s national security advisor “inappropriately shared” classified information with foreign military officers in Afghanistan without permission. He passed on info to British and Australian allies in Afghanistan. Read more in a news report by The Washington Post, December 14, 2016.
Trump and the IC. The President-Elect is off to a rocky start with the U.S. intelligence community. Michael Hayden – former director of the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) writes on his worries about the relationship between a future President Trump and the various intelligence agencies that will provide important information to him that will assist him in his decision-making process. Read more in “Trump is already antagonizing the intelligence community, and that’s a problem”, The Washington Post, December 12, 2016.
No 1 Intel Customer is . . . “like, a smart person”. Some folks have concerns about the President-Elect. Statements indicating that he is smart enough and doesn’t need intel briefings are concerning. Read “Gathering Intelligence Is Dangerous. So Is Not Reading It”, The New York Times, December 14, 2016. See also “Will Team Trump Politicize Intelligence?”, War on the Rocks, December 15, 2016.
Intel Officer’s Guide to Dissent. “Intelligence officers learn early in their careers that speaking truth to power can come with a cost.” The intelligence community is awaiting the arrival of LTG (Ret) Mike Flynn and President-Elect Trump. One has disdain for the CIA while the other believes in waterboarding and killing family members of terrorists. Read “An Intelligence Officer’s Guide to Dissent”, The Cipher Brief, December 16, 2016.
SOE and OSS Equipment Collection. Read “A look at what was dropped ‘behind German lines’ into occupied France”, Guns.com, December 13, 2016.
