SENS. RUSS FEINGOLD & CHUCK HAGEL: On intelligence, a better map of the world

[undeterred]

Nearly four years ago, the 9/11 Commission warned that when it comes to threats to our national security, we must focus on "remote regions and failing states." On the map of the world, it's those hidden corners, about which we know so little, where some of the most dangerous threats against the United States may be brewing. Unfortunately, our government is still not doing enough to gather intelligence and other information in those hidden places. There are far too many gaps on the map that need to be filled in; far too many places where what we don't know could hurt us.

Today, as we look at remote regions like Afghanistan and Pakistan, the terrorist threat has increased, yet we still know far too little. In a blunt admission earlier this year, State Department counterterrorism chief Lt. Gen. Dell L. Dailey said that "we don't have enough information about what's going on (in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border area). Not on al-Qaeda. Not on foreign fighters. Not on the Taliban."

Meanwhile, in failing states like Somalia, the State Department recently designated the insurgent group al-Shabab as a terrorist group with links to al-Qaida, the terrorist threat in North Africa is growing, an al-Qaida affiliate operates across the Sahara from Mauritania to Chad, and al-Qaida cultivates stronger operational connections throughout the Middle East, South Asia and elsewhere. As the threat increases, it's time we fully realize that what happens in places half a world away can pose a real threat to the United States.

By any measure, there are too many places where we don't know nearly enough. We have not yet responded to the 9/11 Commission's warnings. Our intelligence officials are caught up in the threat of the moment, without the time or resources to anticipate what's looming up ahead. To quote the former head of the State Department's intelligence bureau, "If I had to point to one specific problem that explains why we are doing such a bad job on intelligence, it is this almost single-minded focus on current reporting." It's like having all your players clustering around the ball instead of working as a team to move the game downfield.


More at: http://www.bnd.com/285/story/367988.html

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Sens. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., and Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., sit on both the Senate's intelligence and foreign relations committees.

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