Move Along, Nothing To See Here

Less immediately apparent but also serious is the damage to objectivity and professionalism in the U.S. intelligence community. Intelligence officers can see through the smoke screens thrown up by Freeman’s attackers, involving Saudi donations or out-of-context comments about China, and perceive the affair as exactly what it is: the enforcement of political orthodoxy about U.S. policy toward Israel. (If any intelligence officers could not perceive this, they would be abysmally poor analysts [bold mine-DL].) The message to intelligence officers is clear: Their work will be acceptable only if it conforms to dominant policy views. This standard is exactly the opposite of what a professional and impartial intelligence service should provide. ~Paul Pillar

But remember, Freeman’s critics are just horrified by politicization of intelligence–stifling crtical thinking with ideological tests is the last thing they would want, right?

Pillar goes on to make the point that I kept trying to make for a couple of weeks:

The application of this or any other litmus test regarding policy views to the filling of an intelligence position is contrary to the very nature of intelligence, which does not make policy [bold mine-DL]. It is contrary to the concept that good intelligence officers are bright, perceptive, creative, and committed people — and thus are bound to have their own views on policy, including foreign policy — but do not let those personal views intrude into the performance of their jobs.

The application of such tests reminds me of the inane process of staffing the CPA in Iraq following the invasion. Completely irrelevant criteria, such as applicants’ views on abortion, past voting, and working for political campaigns, became part of the staffing process. Party hacks and “true believers” were preferred over professionals and regional experts who would have been able to do the job much better. The results speak for themselves. This is the same sort of “quality” that Freeman’s critics are helping to bring to intelligence-gathering.