200701113 A commentary on the new director of national intelligence

New Intel Chief: Wrong for the Job

A commentary on the new director of national intelligence Mike McConnell

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This photo: Rear Admiral John McConnell, 1990

Nation

New Intel Chief: Wrong for the Job , Jan. 10, 2007 | By Robert Baer

...Baer says the CIA needs to stop its overreliance on technology and outsourcing of intelligence. But that's not likely to happen under Mike McConnell...

[Related Where Does Negroponte Leave Intelligence? The director's surprising move to the State Department raises new questions about much-needed reforms in the spy community]

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Robert Baer, (“a former CIA field officer assigned to the Middle East, is the author of See No Evil and, most recently, the novel Blow the House Down.”) has gone to what many consider to be the “unusual task” of writing a dissent about appointing retired Rear Admiral John Michael "Mike" McConnell - - and then having it published in “Time” magazine.

Among the important points that need to be called to your attention:

[…]

“…The CIA is hemorrhaging people, with the vast majority leaving to work for contractors, like Booz Allen. They're lured by higher salaries and double dipping (on top of their government retirement packages). They often end back up at the CIA with a green contractor's badge, doing pretty much the same job. The important difference is they answer to the company they work for, not the CIA.

“I'm told that today contractors outnumber staff employees. As one CIA officer told me, ‘You walk in the building and all you see is green badges, all doing the retiree shuffle, keeping their heads down, focusing on holding on to their jobs.’ ”

[…]

"You know as well as I do," he said. "Contractors won't take risks. You can't send them out into the field to recruit new sources. They know they make a mistake and they're gone." He's right. It's a lot easier to replace a contractor than it is to fire a government employee.”

[…]

“Rank and file at the CIA will look at McConnell's appointment as part of a trend shifting intelligence away from human sources, the CIA's bread and butter, to the Pentagon, the NSA, technology and outsourcing.”

[…]

“But bin Laden, like most terrorists, has dropped off the digital grid. To find him you need a warm body, not just cool gear.” (my emphasis)

Read the entire piece here: New Intel Chief: Wrong for the Job

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