News for today's 2018: 09/29/12

Zooey Deschanel: Adorkable Babe of the Week

9:00 PM Tukiyooo 0

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />IWS is proud to announce that Zooey Deschanel is our Babe of the Week! Zooey burst onto the scene in as young William Miller’s troubled older sister in <i>Almost Famous</i>.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDvXrJAcCgSUxdTHP8wTmfCarxorGO143H6IeRXP3sKjlqPIw18BfS5Wn9cTHsOfJi-KzLqOgLjfjOdsxf_1RKjicJ-7-VLiByzATiNxRY3rzRXymYiZdvv3QZYth7jekwpQi8cTJFiHc/s1600/Zooey-Deschanel-Hot-Legs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDvXrJAcCgSUxdTHP8wTmfCarxorGO143H6IeRXP3sKjlqPIw18BfS5Wn9cTHsOfJi-KzLqOgLjfjOdsxf_1RKjicJ-7-VLiByzATiNxRY3rzRXymYiZdvv3QZYth7jekwpQi8cTJFiHc/s320/Zooey-Deschanel-Hot-Legs.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />She then reeled off a series of great performances in movies like <i>Elf</i>, <i>The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy</i>, and <i>500 Days of Summer</i>.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCACZGlqptXR7c17IDLnDn0srxC94BU-BdbJdO7IQdrQ7m2y_OYf50YMoGWmGjK-R9WKhOs5mqfznHUDer3KUIKfZvvhV_e0F_B3kpTbWwLj543_RPKdWpqaQV0GVkhcS5Ktzx1OnLYbo/s1600/Zooey-Deschanel-Cleavage-Hot-Boobs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCACZGlqptXR7c17IDLnDn0srxC94BU-BdbJdO7IQdrQ7m2y_OYf50YMoGWmGjK-R9WKhOs5mqfznHUDer3KUIKfZvvhV_e0F_B3kpTbWwLj543_RPKdWpqaQV0GVkhcS5Ktzx1OnLYbo/s320/Zooey-Deschanel-Cleavage-Hot-Boobs.jpg" width="241" /></a></div><br />But, in addition to being a great actress Zooey is an accomplished musician and singer-songwriter. She plays keyboards, percussion, banjo and ukulele!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxU-ohD-taSOB30O_EE-grlMY4Rl-8dI-aeM0wJb3GPr4R3-1R1IAMSUsDfjpSMVX_qKfiHbQiIb2GYMKDH9ONYEMAJey_qhtwwXKXNU96pqCjfJJczCWYXiCC-FcHZbFo74B5r2r1tTM/s1600/Zooey+Deschanel+Singing+Hot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxU-ohD-taSOB30O_EE-grlMY4Rl-8dI-aeM0wJb3GPr4R3-1R1IAMSUsDfjpSMVX_qKfiHbQiIb2GYMKDH9ONYEMAJey_qhtwwXKXNU96pqCjfJJczCWYXiCC-FcHZbFo74B5r2r1tTM/s320/Zooey+Deschanel+Singing+Hot.jpg" width="211" /></a></div><br />Even more awesome is the fact that because of Zooey’s quirky personality and sweet, girl-next-door looks, they had to invent a whole new word to describe her: <b>ADORKABLE!</b><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj05LrsGz_b25jVTy-Oc_JO5kyiwy_OI5PYiy7V-0t2XURqR8S_QzLGcPetB1aEdSQ2A2oJnYamocWn0N9bMYtWMHNLGxgJ8MM7nKkN9I4_LEwFMEV6J852_ZtAfPHTU8_wR42ON0ypxuk/s1600/Zooey-Deschanel-Adorkable-Legs.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj05LrsGz_b25jVTy-Oc_JO5kyiwy_OI5PYiy7V-0t2XURqR8S_QzLGcPetB1aEdSQ2A2oJnYamocWn0N9bMYtWMHNLGxgJ8MM7nKkN9I4_LEwFMEV6J852_ZtAfPHTU8_wR42ON0ypxuk/s320/Zooey-Deschanel-Adorkable-Legs.png" width="318" /></a></div><br />Ms. Deschanel has been nominated for a Golden Globe, Grammy and Emmy award over the last few years. She is currently the star of Fox’s breakout hit <i>New Girl</i>.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp9eZaOs8gyId3U0WtnygHHstChmaoIV8bUhiW3A8_VWaG1gpHG2paUCxARBqKpgP1FkR7WCApacDIqu_DIwqlxGZk81dqBPWzwrzYK9lRBnDINavQ-k3kHCDEY6IDR861kjOozWi0GHI/s1600/Zooey+Deschanel+Nude+Bra+Panties+New+Girl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp9eZaOs8gyId3U0WtnygHHstChmaoIV8bUhiW3A8_VWaG1gpHG2paUCxARBqKpgP1FkR7WCApacDIqu_DIwqlxGZk81dqBPWzwrzYK9lRBnDINavQ-k3kHCDEY6IDR861kjOozWi0GHI/s400/Zooey+Deschanel+Nude+Bra+Panties+New+Girl.jpg" width="195" /></a></div><br /><br />Obviously Zooey Deschanel is one of the most talented women we have ever named Babe of the Week!<br /><br /></div>

Zooey Deschanel: Adorkable Babe of the Week

IWS is proud to announce that Zooey Deschanel is our Babe of the Week! Zooey burst onto the scene in as young William Miller’s troubled olde...

The Google Teacher Academy in New York #1: What does Google New York look like?

8:37 PM Tukiyooo 0

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpHmwohsNGryrgQCS5gUOVI-Ap-mNA_6xfj6TP4Q8sas7LxI699SWohJkkrNxWXF4JZFGHzAwwQGsC_Mq3JoFDA_hcM72hQYhIpWg4QR6dvxsrK4AomErbvjSkt36fkZ02vBoRMV7gJ00/s1600/NewYork-LindaY.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpHmwohsNGryrgQCS5gUOVI-Ap-mNA_6xfj6TP4Q8sas7LxI699SWohJkkrNxWXF4JZFGHzAwwQGsC_Mq3JoFDA_hcM72hQYhIpWg4QR6dvxsrK4AomErbvjSkt36fkZ02vBoRMV7gJ00/s320/NewYork-LindaY.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><i>Submitted by Fiona Beal</i><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 12.65pt; text-align: justify;">In a few days time (on the 3rd and 4th October) 50+ excited educators from the United States, Mexico, Canada, Colombia, the Czech Republic and South Africa (that’s me) will be descending on New York to attend the Google Teacher Academy New York 2012. These educators have been selected from the hundreds of applications from around the world, so undoubtedly many interested folk will be following the #GTANY Twitter hashtag to get a glimpse of the proceedings.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 12.65pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; line-height: 12.65pt; margin-bottom: 9pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;">I love the way Linda Yollis one of the successful applicants from Los Angeles,  has involved her Grades 2&3 class in getting ready for the Google Teacher Academy. Take a look at her blogpost:<br /> </span><a href="http://yollisclassblog.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-google-teacher-academy-in-nyc.html">http://yollisclassblog.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-google-teacher-academy-in-nyc.html</a><span style="color: #333333;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; line-height: 12.65pt; margin-bottom: 9pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;">We have been told by Google, “</span><span style="color: #222222;"><i>We are working hard to prepare everything to create an inspiring couple of days for you next week in New York, and we can't wait to meet all of you. Your heads are gonna spin with all the great experiences we have in store for you. Get ready!</i>”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; line-height: 12.65pt; margin-bottom: 9pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;">We have also been told, ‘</span><span style="color: #222222;"><i>We are finalizing a bunch of great activities with a completely revamped agenda from previous academies, and we are so excited to share it all with you next week!</i>’<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; line-height: 12.65pt; margin-bottom: 9pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Can you wonder that we are excited!<o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>What does Google New York look like?</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; line-height: 12.65pt; margin-bottom: 9pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 12.65pt;">On hearing of my selection for the Academy, m</span><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 12.65pt;">y first question was (after I had got over all the excitement at being selected) – '<i>Whereabouts is Google in New York, and what does it look like</i>?' In my Internet search to answer these questions</span><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 12.65pt;">  </span><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 12.65pt;">I came across two videos, one posted in February 2012 and one posted in 2009 when Google first opened its new New York offices. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; line-height: 12.65pt; margin-bottom: 9pt; text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;">Here is the 2009 video entitled '</span><span style="background-color: transparent;">Inside Google's New York Office'.  </span></span><br /><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5F-zUPTxMEw"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5F-zUPTxMEw</span></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div></div></div></div><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/5F-zUPTxMEw" width="420"></iframe> <br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here is the latest video published by The Wall Street Journal, entitled '<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 12.65pt;">An Inside look at Google’s New York Offices'. </span></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 12.65pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpm_LIyMtMY"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpm_LIyMtMY</span></a><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br /></div><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/bpm_LIyMtMY" width="420"></iframe><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Keep watching this space and we will bring you more news of the Academy.</span></div>

google The Google Teacher Academy in New York #1: What does Google New York look like?

Submitted by Fiona Beal In a few days time (on the 3rd and 4th October) 50+ excited educators from the United States, Mexico, Canada, Colomb...

US INTELLIGENCE FAILURES

6:48 PM Tukiyooo 0

<br /> <br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj62Lnf75t66R5ZM-HZzMlp5Clcc1vZB2O7r9gZvQTkg_wQSP8Y_1VmsnVkaxVjkL1wy2Bd9L1-9updtOmzGCIHfIKkR8U450ulbwmHZvUCW0BvN2LqE2JXIfBiZ04U9Cj6Kcwe_I6nVyaf/s1600/20120328-071707.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj62Lnf75t66R5ZM-HZzMlp5Clcc1vZB2O7r9gZvQTkg_wQSP8Y_1VmsnVkaxVjkL1wy2Bd9L1-9updtOmzGCIHfIKkR8U450ulbwmHZvUCW0BvN2LqE2JXIfBiZ04U9Cj6Kcwe_I6nVyaf/s400/20120328-071707.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />    <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2-gzP4lL_MTOyazDZLPzxNVnGxVbFF0-jhuY7GFkc7REtZ9wYPBuv4DNhBAxXo6YsjhHjSTXyFIwR7c9kok8LSLy4IuRpoVHRNPjqECTUK2iWBYqe1zeklt6qnwlDNUfSWh98qIHFf0eY/s1600/photo1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">BLIND, DEAF AND IGNORANT: 5 RECIPES FOR US INTELLIGENCE FAILURE</span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">It was so much easier when it was just the SOVIET UNION, a clear enemy, even a fun game. So with the 9/11 disaster, AMERICA’S spy agencies were made to understand that there was a new single enemy in town—<b>Osama bin Laden</b>. The only way to advance your career as a spy was to focus on <b>bin Laden</b>, or at least on <b>al-Qaeda</b>. Countless intelligence failures later, we have LIBYA. <br /><br />Post-9/11 intelligence failures have been grave, and lessons, if learned, have not been implemented with any noticeable degree of effect. There have been a few hits, but more misses. Among those failures we have the 2009 “underwear” bombing attempt, thwarted only thanks to passengers on board the plane; the Arab Spring, which had gone viral on the internet before the Agencies figured it out; the loss of a handful of <b>Hezbollah</b>informants in <b>Beirut </b>due to an almost comical flaw in procedure; the Ford Hood shooting; and most recently, LIBYA, where despite the warnings there was no anticipation of the attack on the US consulate in <b>Benghazi </b>and inadequate protection. <br /><br />US intelligence failures are bipartisan and each successive administration owns these failures. On the 11th anniversary of 9/11, heads should be rolling. <br /><br />Why is US intelligence failing? <br /><br /><span style="color: red;"><b>BEHIND THE GLOBALIZATION CURVE</b></span><br /><br /><b>Al-Qaeda</b> is more of an idea, an ideology, than a concrete group. From IRAQ and AFGHANISTAN, SOMALIA and YEMEN, to PAKISTAN, LIBYA and most recently SYRIA (just for starters), it is a globalized ideology. Furthermore, the lines between terrorist groups and organized crime networks are rapidly blurring and becoming borderless. The Agencies cannot keep up because they cannot adapt, still struggling with structural and organizational issues in the post-Cold War period. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">INFORMATION BECOMES PRECIOUS NOT FOR REASONS OF NATIONAL SECURITY BUT FOR REASONS OF CAREER ENHANCEMENT</span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2-gzP4lL_MTOyazDZLPzxNVnGxVbFF0-jhuY7GFkc7REtZ9wYPBuv4DNhBAxXo6YsjhHjSTXyFIwR7c9kok8LSLy4IuRpoVHRNPjqECTUK2iWBYqe1zeklt6qnwlDNUfSWh98qIHFf0eY/s1600/photo1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2-gzP4lL_MTOyazDZLPzxNVnGxVbFF0-jhuY7GFkc7REtZ9wYPBuv4DNhBAxXo6YsjhHjSTXyFIwR7c9kok8LSLy4IuRpoVHRNPjqECTUK2iWBYqe1zeklt6qnwlDNUfSWh98qIHFf0eY/s400/photo1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The US cannot even globalize internally, with information-sharing the latest buzz phrase defining what everyone knows is a key problem that will not be resolved <b>as long as the Agencies are at war with each over turf and funding</b>. Information becomes precious not for reasons of national security but for reasons of career enhancement and departmental positioning. <br /><br />It was the lack of information-sharing that was highlighted in the aftermath of the attempted bombing of an <b>Amsterdam-Detroit</b>flight on Christmas Day 2009. The would-be bomber, <b>Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab</b>, managed to board the passenger place despite the fact that he was on one of many blacklists raising suspicions of his connections to a terrorist group. A Senate Intelligence Committee report pointed to 14 intelligence failures in this case. While the bomber was on the U. database of suspected terrorists, along with some 550,000 other names, he was never placed on the No Fly List or the Selectee List, which would have subjected him to additional security screening at airports, nor was his US visa revoked. His name was misspelled and the State Department thus concluded that he did not have a US visa. The CIA also failed to disseminate key reports to the appropriate people until after the attempted attack, when it was too late to share information.<br /><br /><span style="color: red;"><b>WHITHER HUMAN INTELLIGENCE: THE ARTLESSNESS OF ASSET DEVELOPMENT</b></span><br /><br />The rocket attack on the US consulate in Benghazi that took out the US envoy to LIBYA and three other AMERICAN diplomats was a disastrous failure of human intelligence, which has been dangerously sidelined in favor of high-tech surveillance solutions--the response to a lack of qualified human resources particularly in the CIA.<br /><br />This attack was highly organized and had nothing to do with riots and protests connected to an anti-Islamic film of dubious origins. The attack was not anticipated (or it was anticipated at some point in the intelligence chain but ignored higher up) despite a clear warning 24 hours before in a 42-minute video message from <b>al-Qaeda</b> leader <b>al-Zawahiri</b>. In no uncertain terms, <b>al-Zawahiri</b> pledged to revenge the death-by-drone of his second in command, <b>al-Libi</b>. And LIBYA was the obvious venue for revenge, as it was from here that <b>al-Libi</b> hailed and here that he was turned from an enemy terrorist into a US friend in the fight against <b>Gaddafi</b>. When the job was done, it was here that the US again cut him off as a terrorist. Connecting these dots required the bare minimum of human intelligence and risk analysis. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">INFILTRATION OF TERRORIST GROUPS OR RADICAL ISLAMIC OUTFITS IS NOT IMPOSSIBLE OR EVEN OVERLY CHALLENGING</span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijlxHa8UL2WI5SqQQSdw3_r4VF6SsrsZ_mKuJypfjcQIwxqScJD5gOdAWPH121Scx9tNXuEsT4wyckxjT8U1Sk59Jbo9AtSwLS26CFaY9tcTMDjUoN6R9PH1TFeqE1b7eiTF04H0zoDPxF/s1600/competitive_intelligence.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijlxHa8UL2WI5SqQQSdw3_r4VF6SsrsZ_mKuJypfjcQIwxqScJD5gOdAWPH121Scx9tNXuEsT4wyckxjT8U1Sk59Jbo9AtSwLS26CFaY9tcTMDjUoN6R9PH1TFeqE1b7eiTF04H0zoDPxF/s400/competitive_intelligence.jpg" width="313" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Human intelligence has suffered the most since the end of the Cold War, and the idea of “infiltration” has become the purview of electronics. Regardless of what one might think, so-called infiltration of terrorist groups or radical Islamic outfits is not impossible or even overly challenging. At its best, human intelligence is subtle and natural, not cloak and dagger. It requires casual observation and establishing relationships with unremarkable people who are close to and have access to these groups, in villages, towns and cities. <b>It requires a very localized perspective. <br /></b><br /><span style="color: red;"><b>INADEQUATE INTELLIGENCE ANALYSIS</b></span><br /><br />Along with human intelligence comes analysis, which is also inadequate. There is an ongoing debate about the proper distance between the Intelligence Community and policymakers. The bulk of intelligence recaps events that have already happened and is woefully shortsighted and finding itself in an illogical competition with US news agencies. <br /><br />The Arab Spring is a case in point. While the CIA had vaguely warned policymakers that the Middle East could potentially experience some unrest (which is always a potential), they were caught by surprise when the Arab Spring unfolded. The Agencies had nothing to offer policymakers by way of how the Arab Spring might affect US policy and security. One of the first disastrous responses to the Arab Spring was to send high-profile diplomat Frank Wisner Jr. to Cairo without bothering to any homework on Wisner’s personal agenda. As it turned out, Wisner was on the payroll of the Mubarak regime and took US policy in his own hands, declaring support for the regime on behalf of Washington. Washington of course recalled him immediately, but it was too late to undo the damage.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: red;">INTELLIGENCE-GATHERING AND INTELLIGENCE-ANALYSIS ARE ERRONEOUSLY CONSIDERED VERY SEPARATE THINGS</span><br /></span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><br />There are a number of reasons why intelligence analysis is inadequate, but a key reason (recruitment aside) is that intelligence-gathering and intelligence-analysis are erroneously considered very separate things, and analysts live in fear of raising any alarms before it is clear that there is a dire situation: In other words, when it’s already too late. The bottom line is that it is too risky in terms of career for analysts to go out on a limb with policymakers.<br /><br /><span style="color: red;"><b>RECRUITING THE LEAST COMPETENT</b></span><br /><br />The Intelligence Community’s recruitment policies are counter-productive to say the least. Anyone with any in-depth foreign country experience that might have included the key aspect of asset development—hobnobbing with the locals—is immediately excluded as a security liability. It is extremely different for non-native AMERICAN citizens to pass security clearance. There is also a lack of recruitment intuition, namely that the Agencies consider those who come through their doors, rather than actively seeking the people they really need. Good analysis requires a certain mindset, and those who possess are the least likely to actively seek employment with the Agencies. In the end it is the Agencies own subconscious admission of its inability to conduct counter-intelligence and due diligence on a level that would allow a better recruitment policy to be less of a security threat. <br /><br />The Intelligence Community’s answer to that, for now, is the private contractor, who is unfettered (except at its highest levels) by security clearance requirements. Private contractors are free to have foreign experience and to develop assets among local communities in key hotspots, and they are better at due diligence and counterintelligence. They also often attract a higher quality recruit, and the higher salaries help. <br /><br />This is not, however, the ultimate answer to the Intelligence Community’s shortcomings. There are too many unknowns in the private contractor world; too many easy opportunities to engineer conflict and tensions in the name of creating more business. But the IC can definitely learn from the private contractor in this “transitional phase”.  <br /><span style="color: red;"><br /><b>UNFINISHED REFORM</b></span><br /><br />Intelligence has been in a state of suspended reform in the USA since 1947. The most sweeping reforms came in 2004, with the creation of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), which was to oversee the entire Intelligence Community, and usher in structure in place of inter-agency competition and promote information-sharing. It has succeeded in none of this. Rather, new front lines in the turf war have been drawn, between the DNI and the CIA, which is not wont to give up its former prestige, and between the DNI and the agencies under the control of the Department of Defense (DoD).  The DNI lacks the power the position promised, and is certainly not the White House’s go-to man for intelligence. Indeed, one would be surprised if the average American can even name the DNI (google it). <br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">By Jen Alic via Oilprice</span></span></span></div>