The Rise and Fall of U.S. National Security

National security is a phenomenon. It is a network of systems, domestic and abroad, comprised around intelligence. Simply put, without intelligence, national security doesn’t exist. Similar to behavior analysis where variables induce perceptions which later invoke behavior; the national security equation lies with intelligence collection inducing analysis which later invokes activities–activities to secure a nation.

Since the technological revolution, intelligence collection amongst human activity has swiftly deteriorated. Technology has superseded human intelligence (HUMINT) collection efforts with tools such as Signals Intelligence, Measures and Signatures Intelligence, and Open Source. Today, HUMINT has become an endangered species.

Human intelligence, contrary to many beliefs, is not just about interrogations or “walk-in” interviews. It is about getting outside comfort zones, interacting with people vastly different then us, learning the culture, and building enough rapport to eventually obtain credible information about a specific topic of interest or concern. Once this is fulfilled, it becomes critical to act.

Some professions required to actively or passively collect HUMINT are Foreign Area Officers, Regional Security Officers, and Defense Attaché Officers. Regrettably, the great majority of these professions have recently failed in their HUMINT responsibilities due to internal organizational pressures, political outcries greatly induced during the 1970’s Carter era, or due to individual fault stemming from pure laziness desiring “embassy black tie events” rather than the real work at hand. This truly leaves only conventional military, SOF, other DOD, and Central Intelligence Agency assets to fulfill the HUMINT mission. But even these organizations have been hindered by political correctness and internal conflict amongst analysts and academic elites.

Due to the lacking of leaders who understand the necessity of HUMINT operations, the United States faces austere circumstances. We no longer have the George Washington’s or the Theodore Roosevelt’s running this nation. We need these types of HUMINT appreciative leaders today.

Spymaster George Washington implemented the Culper Ring. The Culper Ring, led by Calvary officer Benjamin Tallmadge who served a similar role to today’s case officers, was critical in the defeat of the British during the Revolutionary War. They were HUMINT operatives.

The late and great William “Wild Bill” Donovan, leader of the Office of Strategic Services, was a true snake eater at heart. He was a man who embraced living amongst the local indigenous persons collecting invaluable intelligence and enacting on that intelligence for operational success. Sadly, due to narcissism within the U.S. government, when his good friend President Roosevelt died, so did the OSS.

Similar atrocities against HUMINT occur regularly within our government and each time they occur, HUMINT comes closer to total extinction. HUMINT is a dirty business that only strives when tough risk taking leaders hold the throne. Today, HUMINT has been greatly replaced with technology. A source operating in the AF/PAK region believes that risk aversion, time, and large scale goals are, in part, responsible for the destruction of HUMINT operations.

“We keep looking for the Holy Grail (the location of OBL, Mullah Muhammad Omar, etc.) instead of understanding daily pattern flows of the people. Without knowing what is ‘normal,’ we can’t know when something is not normal. HUMINT takes time and effort; a game the West is not good at playing unlike the East. Our risk aversion hinders operational success and good HUMINT entails taking risks.”

Analytical job postings are now often replaced with terms like “Knowledge Management Officers.” Does this mean that even analysts, true cognitively induced critical thinkers who do not depend on technical tools for picturesque art, could be a dying breed? Our future will only tell.

Recent wars have exemplified our ignorance in understanding those whom we fight and assist. Bosnia, Somalia, Afghanistan, and today’s crisis in Libya prove our ignorance. We are ignorant due to our flaws and those flaws stem from endangering one of the oldest professions known to mankind–HUMINT.

“And Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said unto them, Get you up this way southward, and go up into the mountain: And see the land, what it is; and the people that dwelleth therein, whether they be strong or weak, few or many; And what the land is that they dwell in, whether it be good or bad; and what cities they be that they dwell in, whether in tents, or in strong holds; And what the land is, whether it be fat or lean, whether there be wood therein, or not. And be ye of good courage, and bring of the fruit of the land. Now the time was the time of the first ripe grapes.” (Numbers 13: 17-20)

The war in Libya, similarly to Afghanistan, has come back to bite the intelligence community in the derriere, inevitably jeopardizing our own national security. Numerous national security leaders have recently expressed limited to no knowledge in understanding Libyan rebels fighting against the Qaddafi regime. Some have even claimed that Al Qaeda elements may be leading rebel training in country yet this thought is unsubstantiated.

Today, talk about arming the rebels exists. Not only have such talks been expressed, some have mentioned inserting NATO teams of military advisors to “train, mentor, and advise” Libyan rebels–without even knowing who they are.

The issue at hand about Libya is simple. We lack knowledge and understanding. Every dilemma encountered today could have been long resolved simply by ensuring our national security apparatus had adequate risk taking HUMINT operatives inserted globally.

Amazingly, the war on the Southern Border has been exposed to radical Islamists and they weren’t necessarily identified by official U.S. government HUMINT teams rather by media and private organizations working inside Mexico. Today, many persons in our Intelligence Community refuse to accept Hamas or Hezbollah operating inside Mexico; all because they didn’t have the intelligence telling them they were there. Truth is, the intelligence was there, they just lacked the collectors needed to obtain the insight; something neither technical collection tools nor analysts could fulfill. Now, our enemies not only operate along our border, they are here inside the United States homeland.

The birth of our country had blossomed thanks to one of the oldest professions–Human Intelligence. Swiftly before our eyes, it is falling. No academic, nor could any analyst save this nation from the true threats which we face today by themselves. The reintroduction of old school HUMINT has never been so critical.

Kerry Patton has served in the U.S. Defense and Justice departments, and as a contractor within the Homeland Security and State departments. He has worked in South America, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Europe, focusing on intelligence and security interviewing current and former terrorists, including members of the Taliban. He is the author of “Sociocultural Intelligence: The New Discipline of Intelligence Studies” and the children’s book “American Patriotism.”