Secrecy News: (Lack Of) Diversity in Intelligence; What Are Insurgents?
Secrecy News: (Lack Of) Diversity
in Intelligence; What Are Insurgents?
About
Secrecy News
SECRECY NEWS is an email publication of
the Federation of American Scientists (FAS)
Project on Government Secrecy. It provides
informal coverage of new developments in secrecy,
security and intelligence policies, as well
as links to new acquisitions on the Federation
of American Scientists web site. It
is published 2 to 3 times a week, or as events
warrant. Secrecy
News Article Index
"The origins of the Intelligence Community are basically white
male, if you go back to World War II and its aftermath,"
observed Gen. James Clapper, head of the National Geospatial
Intelligence Agency (NGA). "And that may be a lingering legacy
yet today."
However "we can no longer expect an Intelligence Community that
is mostly male and mostly white to be able to monitor and
infiltrate suspicious organizations or terrorist groups," said
Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA). "We need spies that look like their
targets, CIA officers who speak the dialects that terrorists
use, and FBI agents who can speak to Muslim women that might be
intimidated by men."
The challenges to the workforce of U.S. intelligence presented
by a multicultural world, and efforts to meet those challenges,
were addressed in a November 5, 2003 open hearing of the House
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
The transcript of that hearing, published last month, is available
here.
INTELLIGENCE IN SUPPORT OF INTERNAL DEFENSE OPERATIONS
A U.S. Army correspondence course for intelligence personnel
provides an introduction to the theory of revolution and the
role of intelligence in confronting insurgencies and bolstering
internal defense in foreign countries.
Students may monitor their own progress with multiple-choice
self-test questions such as the following:
What are insurgents?
A. Citizens who protest US military combat personnel entering
their country.
B. Citizens attempting to legally alter the governmental
structure by holding private elections.
C. Citizens of a country attempting by illegal means to change
the way it is governed.
D. People that privately disagree with the government over
political issues and hold meetings to discuss how to rectify
identified shortcomings.
