Is National Intelligence an Oxymoron?
In the Age of Information, the traditional concept of “national intelligence” (spies, satellites, secrets) can either be relegated to the tarpits where old mammoths die, or it can be reinvented to adapt to the realities of an era in which everyone is a producer and a consumer of “intelligence.” Director of Central Intelligence James R. Woolsey has given no indication that he is aware of the enormity of his responsibilities. He has failed to challenge and discipline his staff, a staff comprised mostly of brain-dead bureaucrats who are not really experienced. As one wag put it, they do not have 30 years’ experience, but rather one year’s experience repeated 30 times. In the Age of Information, only those nations will survive and prosper that empower all their citizens with the kind of “intelligence” (what the private sector calls decision support) that one of them – the President – now receives at a cost of roughly US$28 billion a year. God bless Al Gore and the National Information Infr
