Article Entry
06 Apr 2010
Comments:4
Ever Wonder What Happened to Intelligence Reform and the ODNI?
Added by USGIF Category: Daily Intelligence Brief
Ever wonder what happened to intelligence reform after the formation of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence five years ago? Wasn’t that one of the core tenets of the ODNI to drive this reform? Well, Patrick C. Neary, Principal Deputy Director and Chief Strategist for ODNI, recently wrote in the Studies in Intelligence that the idea that the ODNI could drive reform was “flawed.” According to Walter Pincus of the Washington Post, no one with Neary’s background and experience has laid out so clearly the failures of ODNI. What are these failures? According to Neary, no clear chain of command for the CIA Director to report to the ODNI, logistical challenges for the location of the ODNI, changes in leadership, lack of cooperation between agencies, and the marginalization of the National Intelligence University. Given all of this, Neary points out that intelligence reform should not be an issue, since we are safer as a nation – due to the doubling of spending on intelligence over the past eight years? Read Pincus’ article here.
Tags: Central Intelligence Agency, CIA, DIA, GEOINT, got geoint?, Intelligence Reform, National Intelligence University, ODNI, Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Patrick Neary, United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation, Walter Pincus
well done.
I worked at ODNI. The fundamental problem so far has been active resistance by CIA to most DNI initiatives that may in some way threaten the CIA’s perceived authorities and access. For the most part, all the other three letter intel agencies are trying to make this “experiment” work…not so the CIA. My impression is that the CIA wants to return to its glory days as overseers of the US intelligence community, even though by their own admittance they failed to effectively manage the community as a cohesive enterprise. For some reason that only the CIA seems to understand, it appears to be a case of, “we can’t do it, but we don’t want you to do it, either.”
Having worked at the ODNI, my perspective is that the CIA is actively and aggressively moving to ensure the DNI does not succeed. The other three letter intel agencies are at least trying to help this “experiment” succeed, but I rarely, if ever, saw CIA, as an institution, fully support what the DNI is trying to accomplish relative to intel reform.
By the tone of your comments above, you’re obviously part of the crowd that takes pleasure in seeing the ODNI “fail”. If you’re interested in open and honest dialogue, then leave these comments for all to weigh in on. If you’re part of the crowd that hopes the ODNI fails, then continue to remove this post.
fromfrederick@aol.com
Great!
Very nice!