Having worked directly with the DNI at one point in my career I can say that the office was often used as a dumping ground for people that the various agencies wanted to get rid of. Seconding the unwanted to some where else is a traditional way of getting rid of dead weight that couldn't be fired. If they never returned to their home agency so much the better. It also contained a fair number of very junior staff who when asked any questions had to immediately call their home agency for the answer. All in all a really useless organization set up in a panic after 9/11.
I'll be honest-initially I felt the ODNI was just a CYA band-aid fix after the 9/11 stain on the agency, but over time, with some good leaders at the helm, (although still bloated like any gov agency), it became useful for cross-cutting issues like producing the PDB, and intel sharing not only amongst agencies but also amongst our allies. Given that the Five Eyes can't be everywhere at once and don't have the resources to cover smaller issues/countries, it was a great way to collaborate and fill the gaps. It's no surprise that we've made such terrible mistakes in Iran given that we fired all the people who had institutional knowledge before we fired the missiles...this will only get worse and make us increasingly vulnerable. I wholeheartedly agree with the author James Grady that the Russian spies of the Cold War and the Chinese spies of today couldn't be happier...
Good article, but political purges at intelligence agencies are nothing new. Anyone remember President Jimmy Carter’s and Admiral Standsfield Turner’s “Halloween Massacre” of October 31, 1977 when 800 officers were fired from the CIA?
Any way you look at it being knowledgable and capable is not a job qualification in the Trump regime. This is why, slowly, the world is looking at the US with new eyes. Now our enemies see opportunities they did not have before and our allies are learning not to trust us. When I read Project 2025 with my book club, I saw the Intelligence Community chapter as another piece of the puzzle setting the US up to be a third world country. Pulte and his actions following Gabbard, is just another piece in the puzzle of destruction of the US that Trump is putting together.
Thanks. Because we read 1-2 chapters at a time, we got to really discuss it too over many months meeting weekly. I am someone with imagination and I could read it and see how implementing even part of what they had planned would destroy the US. For example, in the Intelligence community chapter there is a discussion of switching division leaders regularly to other stations. We understood that this was so that no one would develop too much power in one place, but I also understood it as a way to destabilize the families too, who would also have to move around, unless there was no family. It is a great way to demoralize people, but not a good way to treat people.
Now we are reading books about democracy and understanding those who would take it away. Right now we are reading "The Conspiracists: Women, Extremism, and the Lure of Belonging" by Noelle Cook. I recommend it to better understand the women of Jan 6 and their actions.
Having worked directly with the DNI at one point in my career I can say that the office was often used as a dumping ground for people that the various agencies wanted to get rid of. Seconding the unwanted to some where else is a traditional way of getting rid of dead weight that couldn't be fired. If they never returned to their home agency so much the better. It also contained a fair number of very junior staff who when asked any questions had to immediately call their home agency for the answer. All in all a really useless organization set up in a panic after 9/11.
I'll be honest-initially I felt the ODNI was just a CYA band-aid fix after the 9/11 stain on the agency, but over time, with some good leaders at the helm, (although still bloated like any gov agency), it became useful for cross-cutting issues like producing the PDB, and intel sharing not only amongst agencies but also amongst our allies. Given that the Five Eyes can't be everywhere at once and don't have the resources to cover smaller issues/countries, it was a great way to collaborate and fill the gaps. It's no surprise that we've made such terrible mistakes in Iran given that we fired all the people who had institutional knowledge before we fired the missiles...this will only get worse and make us increasingly vulnerable. I wholeheartedly agree with the author James Grady that the Russian spies of the Cold War and the Chinese spies of today couldn't be happier...
Good article, but political purges at intelligence agencies are nothing new. Anyone remember President Jimmy Carter’s and Admiral Standsfield Turner’s “Halloween Massacre” of October 31, 1977 when 800 officers were fired from the CIA?
The "heart" response is a cloak for an angry response. The Russian spies of yore could not have wished for a more U.S.-damaging fiasco.
Always appreciate your comments, James.
Present day Russia spies too.
Any way you look at it being knowledgable and capable is not a job qualification in the Trump regime. This is why, slowly, the world is looking at the US with new eyes. Now our enemies see opportunities they did not have before and our allies are learning not to trust us. When I read Project 2025 with my book club, I saw the Intelligence Community chapter as another piece of the puzzle setting the US up to be a third world country. Pulte and his actions following Gabbard, is just another piece in the puzzle of destruction of the US that Trump is putting together.
I hope those who were in the NIC continue to be the resource, just without the title. It will be like 1999. 🥴
Thanks for reading, Cynthia. I don't know how much they are in a listening mode, especially Trump, considering the Iran war fiasco.
What a fantastic idea to read Project 2025 as part of a book club!
Thanks. Because we read 1-2 chapters at a time, we got to really discuss it too over many months meeting weekly. I am someone with imagination and I could read it and see how implementing even part of what they had planned would destroy the US. For example, in the Intelligence community chapter there is a discussion of switching division leaders regularly to other stations. We understood that this was so that no one would develop too much power in one place, but I also understood it as a way to destabilize the families too, who would also have to move around, unless there was no family. It is a great way to demoralize people, but not a good way to treat people.
Now we are reading books about democracy and understanding those who would take it away. Right now we are reading "The Conspiracists: Women, Extremism, and the Lure of Belonging" by Noelle Cook. I recommend it to better understand the women of Jan 6 and their actions.
Thanks for the recommendation!