It’s called “falling in love with your source.” I did it, my
colleagues did it, intelligence professionals collectively do it, and
none of us are ever the better for it.
Here’s how it happens, at least from the collector level. I spent 20 years in the U.S. Army as an interrogator and strategic debriefer, with most of my second decade of service spent in and around embassies in the Middle East. My job at the embassy was to debrief walk-in sources, defectors, visa applicants of particular interest who agreed to talk to me, and anyone else of interest to the intelligence community who popped up in the region and fell into my column as a debriefing subject.
I dealt with thousands of sources, most of whom occupied a brief hour or two of my time, and whose information met a standing need for basic intelligence on Iraq. Others, particularly walk-ins or defectors with potentially valuable information to share, took days or weeks to thoroughly and appropriately debrief. Their information was usually of much greater significance to the IC than the standard fare, and it made the work much more satisfying for the debriefer.
Engaging in an extended debriefing series with a source who knows information that could enhance or change our collective understanding of tier-one national intelligence requirements is heady. If doing a market-basket debrief of an Iraqi visa applicant was a mid-week Major League Baseball day game in July, conducting a series of debriefings on a troubled member of a terrorist cell, a regime-hating microbiologist, or a defecting government official was a World Series game.
http://thefederalist.com/2018/06/26/doj-fbi-ignore-lack-evidence-russiagate-fell-love-source/
Here’s how it happens, at least from the collector level. I spent 20 years in the U.S. Army as an interrogator and strategic debriefer, with most of my second decade of service spent in and around embassies in the Middle East. My job at the embassy was to debrief walk-in sources, defectors, visa applicants of particular interest who agreed to talk to me, and anyone else of interest to the intelligence community who popped up in the region and fell into my column as a debriefing subject.
I dealt with thousands of sources, most of whom occupied a brief hour or two of my time, and whose information met a standing need for basic intelligence on Iraq. Others, particularly walk-ins or defectors with potentially valuable information to share, took days or weeks to thoroughly and appropriately debrief. Their information was usually of much greater significance to the IC than the standard fare, and it made the work much more satisfying for the debriefer.
Engaging in an extended debriefing series with a source who knows information that could enhance or change our collective understanding of tier-one national intelligence requirements is heady. If doing a market-basket debrief of an Iraqi visa applicant was a mid-week Major League Baseball day game in July, conducting a series of debriefings on a troubled member of a terrorist cell, a regime-hating microbiologist, or a defecting government official was a World Series game.
http://thefederalist.com/2018/06/26/doj-fbi-ignore-lack-evidence-russiagate-fell-love-source/
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