Open-Source Intel

A recent Congressional Research Service report highlights the challenges facing the U.S. intelligence community in the 21st century. The Oct. 14 report notes that "congressional and executive branch initiatives have sought to improve coordination among the different agencies and to encourage better analysis. In December 2004, the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act (P.L. 108-458) was signed, providing for a Director of National Intelligence (DNI) with substantial authorities to manage the national intelligence effort. The legislation also established a separate Director of the Central Intelligence Agency."

Further, the report states:

Making cooperation effective presents substantial leadership and managerial challenges. The needs of intelligence "consumers" -- ranging from the White House to Cabinet agencies to military commanders -- must all be met, using the same systems and personnel. Intelligence collection systems are expensive and some critics suggest there have been elements of waste and unneeded duplication of effort while some intelligence "targets" have been neglected.

The DNI has substantial statutory authorities to address these issues, but the organizational relationships remain complex, especially for Defense Department agencies. Members of Congress will be seeking to observe the extent to which effective coordination is accomplished.

International terrorism, a major threat facing the United States in the 21st century, presents a difficult analytical challenge, vividly demonstrated by the attempted bombing of a commercial aircraft approaching Detroit on December 25, 2009. Counterterrorism requires the close coordination of intelligence and law enforcement agencies, but there remain many institutional and procedural issues that complicate cooperation between the two sets of agencies. Techniques for acquiring and analyzing information on small groups of plotters differ significantly from those used to evaluate the military capabilities of other countries. U.S. intelligence efforts are complicated by unfilled requirements for foreign language expertise. Whether all terrorist surveillance efforts have been consistent with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA) has been a matter of controversy.

Intelligence on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction was inaccurate and Members have criticized the performance of the intelligence community in regard to current conditions in Iraq, Iran, and other areas. Improved analysis, while difficult to mandate, remains a key goal. Better human intelligence, it is widely agreed, is also essential.

Intelligence support to military operations continues to be a major responsibility of intelligence agencies. The use of precision-guided munitions depends on accurate, real-time targeting data; integrating intelligence data into military operations challenges traditional organizational relationships and requires innovative technological approaches. Stability operations now underway in Afghanistan may require very different sets of intelligence skills.

One particular skill set the Defense Department wants to nurture is the gathering of open-source intelligence. Inside the Pentagon reported last month that DOD is requiring defense agencies, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the combatant commands to file yearly reports on their efforts to mine information from foreign newspapers and other media. The requirement came via new guidance signed by the acting under secretary of defense for intelligence. Further:

DOD instruction No. 3115.12, which went into effect Aug. 24, lays out a series of individual status reports to be filed by the National Security Agency, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, the COCOMs and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The instruction also establishes the Defense Open Source Council as the "primary governance mechanism" for DOD's open-source intelligence. The council, which is chaired by a senior executive picked by the Defense Intelligence Agency, must also submit a status report to the under secretary of defense for intelligence, or USD(I), by Feb. 28 of each year.

This council's report will assess DOD's open-source intelligence programs and activities, and lay out issues that are hindering the programs' effectiveness and integration into DOD-wide or national programs. These annual reports will also prioritize recommendations concerning policy changes and other initiatives needed for improvement.

Defense officials interviewed by Inside the Pentagon said on a condition of anonymity that these new reporting requirements play an important role in the department's attempts to coordinate its open-source intelligence.

"There is an attempt to, through these reporting mechanisms, identify requirements that are common to defense intelligence that could be addressed at higher levels, at USD(I)," a defense official said.

Although the first reports are due Nov. 15 for the NSA and NGA, a second defense official said there may be some leniency because of the quick turnaround.