The community in purple

It seems that the inevitable back and forth debate over military versus other government HUMINT will continue to play out in the press for some time to come. If nothing else, this is good fodder for policy and think tank types; and academic papers of the should have – could have – would have variety for another few years.

A well written counterpoint to the entire debate itself has come from the inimitable Mark Bowden.

Your authors agree that it is long past the time to rehash these turf fights masquerading as “genuine community re-structuring” (TM). It is a waste of time and valuable intellectual bandwidth that would be better turned to the real problems of the community. The community needs more purple – jointness - and although the DNI has not yet gotten it there, the idea of an integrated, cross service HUMINT mission as proposed by some well versed commentators is an interesting destination from the current bifurcated structures.

h/t to Haft of the Spear – who, while perhaps late out of the gate on this issue, commands recent writings and consistency far and beyond our own humble and busy selves. His efforts are well worth reading, and as we ourselves struggle to put pixels to screen, we find them frankly inspiring in their own right. The gentleman does truly fine work in the service of the literature of intelligence.