1/ The mainstream media naturally portrayed yesterday's Intelligence Community worldwide threat briefing as the IC contradicting the foreign policy views of @realDonaldTrump and his admin. The real issue is why we have these unclassified briefings. @joshrogin @peterbakernyt
2/ Our standing peacetime intelligence agencies exist to inform presidential policy. They must speak truth to power and tell the President and his admin what they need to know to make good policy decisions. However, intel agencies are barred from policy prescription.
3/ Its fine for intel analysts to privately tell the President or another policymaker that they believe a policy will not succeed. As a CIA analyst, I did this many times. Its not OK for intel analysts to undermine presidential policy by voicing such reservations publically.
4/ That's what happened in yesterday's worldwide threat briefing. The IC should give Trump officials their reservations about policy on ISIS, North Kore, Iran, etc, but when intel agencies do so publically, they are undermining the admin and are pushing their own policies.
5/ For example, IC officials said yesterday that North Korea remains "unlikely to give up" its nuclear weapon stockpiles. All observers knew this. But such a public finding could affect NK's position at nuclear talks and undermine US efforts to convince NK to give up its nukes.
6/ The IC statements on Iran's nuclear program were impossible to take seriously. DNI Coates said: “We do not believe Iran is currently undertaking activities we judge necessary to produce a nuclear device.” CIA Dir Haspel said: At the moment technically they are in compliance”
7/ Haspel and Coates ignored that Israel found a warehouse of nuclear equipment and radioactive materials in Tehran earlier this year that the IAEA refused to inspect so it would not have to find Iran in nonompliance of the nulear deal . . .
8/ Haspel & Coates also ignored that Iran is engaged in nculear weapons-related activities by continuing to enrich uranium & develop advanced centrifuges. Iran also continues to refuse to allow the IAEA to inspect military bases where it likely is engaged in nuclear weapons work
9/ But the most important objection to the unclassified Worldwide Threat Briefings and the accompaning unclas report is that they give US adversaries a huge amount of information of IC assessments of them. This makes no sense.
10/ This is why I urged @realDonaldTrump on @LouDobbs Tonight last night that it is time to end unclassified worldwide threat briefings because they are being used by the IC to meddle in policymaking and are helping US adversaries. facebook.com/LouDobbsTonigh…
11/ Congress should continue to receive annual worldwide threat briefings from the IC, but only in classified, closed sessions. @MiekeEoyang @SpyTalker @gregpmiller
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