BOGSAT...

aka: Bunch of Guys Sitting Around a Table
aka: Bald Old Guys Sitting Around a Table

This article brings up some issues that are going to be some real sticking points for the next administration, especially the Democrats and especially Obama. While Obama wants "preparation" rather than "preconditions," he will be hard-pressed to get either without some help from the intelligence community as much as the diplomatic corps. Essentially we are looking at war-fighting versus forecasting. The IC is not robust enough to do both...or even one of those unimpeachably. Will the trend that Ackerman discusses hamper that? I think it is something that all three of the candidates will have to address come January 2009.

money quote:

There needs to be a semi-independent voice that voices the broader strategic perspectives and is not driven by the [intelligence] demands of day," said Robert Hutchings, who chaired the National Intelligence Council from 2003 until 2005. "The worry is not that Mike Hayden and Mike McConnell happen to be military officers; it’s that the system is now skewed to current intelligence, driven by military operations. That’s leaving too little left over for strategic analysis of what’s going on more broadly. And that leads to [an echo chamber effect]: this is what’s presented to policy-makers, and it just reinforces the worldview they began with.

And, why do all of these dudes look like photos of the same guy taken at varying intervals??? For fuck sake, can we not change it up a little bit?!?!?!

COMING SOON: Japan Watch, Vol. 2