Mercy! Mercy! That Dang Nabed PERCY!

Lawyers to the Rescue

Chapter 2, The Dark Side, p. 16

“In 1995 the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) took over all clandestine human intelligence-collection assignments from the Army’s General Defense Intelligence Program.”

“It was a hostile take over… Thousands of billets were transferred.” The skills brought over “…were radically different from those required to count Soviet missiles…” To the establishment the new influx of personnel, “…were seen as Knuckle Draggers who shouldn’t be in the intellectual mecca that was the DIA.”

“Guys like me who came out of the Army (LTC Shaffer)… were the least popular. The leaders (DIA) didn’t like clandestine HUMINT.”

I quoted these lines to show the deep division that came about following the expansion. An organization having a traditionally signals monitoring focus was suddenly told to get into the HUMINT business as well. If you remember after 911 it was discovered that this capability had all but dried up. Suddenly it was realized more HUMINT in DOD was needed, to supplement our signals intercept capability. What little that existed was moved. It resulted in a radical and painful change in culture at DIA.

911 showed that stove piped intelligence gathering led to information not being shared between agencies. Agencies competed with each other and the fear of sharing information and someone else getting the credit, was the mindset of the cultures. As a consequence Intelligence agencies played their assets close to the vest. It was an pulling teeth getting them to cooperate and it wasn’t happening, even after 911. The revelation that the DIA knew about Mohammed Atta prior to 911 was a corncob of “I told you so” shoved right up the DIA’s butt. In the face of overwhelming evidence they remain in denial to this day. However, there was a whole lot more to the problem going on.

Post 911 it was discovered that the Military was being run by lawyers. Commanders, who had risen to positions beyond their competence and understanding, began hiding more and more behind their legal staffs, in a world that opened to a strategic vista beyond their aptitude and understanding. Many who had made their reputations at the tactical and operational levels of command were hopelessly in over their heads. At CENTCOM, there came an early opportunity to kill Mullah Omar with a drone strike. A lawyer stood it down. The SECDEF and President were livid and the commander got to spend time cooling his heels at the ranch in Texas. However, the extent to which lawyers were running things was only beginning to surface.