got geoint?

Perhaps it is our human nature to engage in office politics. Or, it is a result of the bureaucratic systems that we have put in place in government — and in the corporate world — that cause us to undermine others for our own benefit? Whether it’s nature or nurture, one thing is for sure: treacherous political turf battles are happening right now in the intelligence community. Not that this is anything new in our world, but there is something brewing between the ODNI and the C.I.A.

According to the New York Times, Dennis C. Blair, the director of national intelligence, sent a classified memorandum announcing that his office would use its authority to select the top American spy in each country overseas. Then, one day later, Leon E. Panetta, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, sent a dispatch of his own. Ignore Mr. Blair’s message, Mr. Panetta wrote to agency employees; the C.I.A. was still in charge overseas, a role that C.I.A. station chiefs had jealously guarded for decades.

Sounds like the makings for a good turf battle. And, Gen. James L. Jones, the national security adviser, is now trying to negotiate a truce. And the big problem is that the roles of each intelligence agency were ill-defined in the 2004 overhaul of the intelligence community. So, to answer our initial question, we would say that this battle is caused by the situation (lack of clarity of roles), as opposed to human nature. But, we could be wrong. Human nature is a funny thing. Welcome all thoughts and comments.

Tags: CIA, Darwin, Dennis Blair, GEOINT, Intelligence Community, Leon Panetta, ODNI, Office Politics, Turf Battles, USGIF