Opening the Intelligence Window: Realist Logic and the Invasion of Iraq

Abstract

James R. Schlesinger, the current chairman of the Mitre Corporation, and former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency CIA , as well as a former Secretary of Defence, spoke at the Fourth Public Hearing on Intelligence and the War on Terrorism in mid 2003. He said: "Intelligence is highly successful in dealing with routine developments. It is, however, particularly prone to failure at the turning points of history. It is perhaps obvious that the problems of intelligence become even harder when we deal with non-Western cultures, amplified when we are attempting to understand those who regard us as infidels. Nonetheless, I believe that we can do better in responding to terrorism. Until now we have not been sufficiently strategic and long term in our analytical efforts. We have relied too much on secret intelligence and too much on country expertise".