Intelligence Czar Creates New Clandestine Service
Jim Kouri, CPP
October 16, 2005
Last Thursday, in a memorandum to the National Association of Chiefs of Police, John Negroponte, Director of National Intelligence, and Porter Goss, Director of Central Intelligence, announced the creation of the National Clandestine Service at the CIA.
The hope is that this initiative will strengthen the direction and leadership of human intelligence throughout the intelligence community. The plan reflects the thinking of some of the most seasoned veterans in human intelligence collection, men and women with decades of experience in the field.
During a press conference, Director Goss said, "The decision to create the NCS at CIA underscores CIA’s proud position as the center of gravity for [human intelligence] in our intelligence community. No agency has greater skill and experience in this difficult, complex, and utterly vital discipline of intelligence." Goss added, "The announcement represents a grant of trust and an expression of confidence in CIA from the President, the DNI, and our partners throughout government."
The National Clandestine Service will incorporate the current Directorate of Operations and will be led by the Director of the National Clandestine Service (D/NCS) to whom the D/CIA will delegate his day-to-day National HUMINT Manager responsibilities. The D/NCS will coordinate and assess HUMINT operations throughout the IC and will report directly to the D/CIA. The D/NCS will also work with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to implement the DNI's statutory authorities.
The D/NCS will be assisted by two deputies -- one will lead the daily activities of the CIA's Clandestine Service while the other will focus on human intelligence activities across the IC.
"These changes hold the potential to make our HUMINT operations better than they were before—from training and tradecraft to technology and counterintelligence," Goss said. "They hold the potential to make our Intelligence Community even more of a Community. It is up to us to make that potential real, and in the process to make the United States safer and stronger. I have every confidence that we will meet that goal."
Many police commanders believe this new intelligence initiative is the result of US law enforcement complaints regarding the quality of strategic and tactical intelligence. One member of the Chiefs of Police Association went as far as claiming the intelligence community -- especially the CIA -- has become more of a think tank than an operational intelligence agency. Also, a major complaint was the reliance on technology as opposed to human intelligence gathering.
Part of the new Clandestine Service is the development of informants throughout the world. During the Clinton Administration, as a result of an executive order, the CIA was prohibited from employing informants who were "unsavory characters." These unsavory characters included former terrorists, drug traffickers, gun runners, international criminals and other who might have access to the global underworld and terrorism network. The new initiative is a complete about-face for government intelligence agencies.
The hope is that this initiative will strengthen the direction and leadership of human intelligence throughout the intelligence community. The plan reflects the thinking of some of the most seasoned veterans in human intelligence collection, men and women with decades of experience in the field.
During a press conference, Director Goss said, "The decision to create the NCS at CIA underscores CIA’s proud position as the center of gravity for [human intelligence] in our intelligence community. No agency has greater skill and experience in this difficult, complex, and utterly vital discipline of intelligence." Goss added, "The announcement represents a grant of trust and an expression of confidence in CIA from the President, the DNI, and our partners throughout government."
The National Clandestine Service will incorporate the current Directorate of Operations and will be led by the Director of the National Clandestine Service (D/NCS) to whom the D/CIA will delegate his day-to-day National HUMINT Manager responsibilities. The D/NCS will coordinate and assess HUMINT operations throughout the IC and will report directly to the D/CIA. The D/NCS will also work with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to implement the DNI's statutory authorities.
The D/NCS will be assisted by two deputies -- one will lead the daily activities of the CIA's Clandestine Service while the other will focus on human intelligence activities across the IC.
"These changes hold the potential to make our HUMINT operations better than they were before—from training and tradecraft to technology and counterintelligence," Goss said. "They hold the potential to make our Intelligence Community even more of a Community. It is up to us to make that potential real, and in the process to make the United States safer and stronger. I have every confidence that we will meet that goal."
Many police commanders believe this new intelligence initiative is the result of US law enforcement complaints regarding the quality of strategic and tactical intelligence. One member of the Chiefs of Police Association went as far as claiming the intelligence community -- especially the CIA -- has become more of a think tank than an operational intelligence agency. Also, a major complaint was the reliance on technology as opposed to human intelligence gathering.
Part of the new Clandestine Service is the development of informants throughout the world. During the Clinton Administration, as a result of an executive order, the CIA was prohibited from employing informants who were "unsavory characters." These unsavory characters included former terrorists, drug traffickers, gun runners, international criminals and other who might have access to the global underworld and terrorism network. The new initiative is a complete about-face for government intelligence agencies.
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