Openness and the Future of the Clandestine Service

摘要

With the collapse of the Soviet Union and abortive efforts to dismember the CIA in the aftermath of the Cold War, the concept of 'openness' gained widespread, uncritical acceptance, and this attitude probably will endure well into the future. In the context of intelligence operations, the concept signifies a compromise between the need of a people in a democratic society to be informed of government operations, and the responsibilities of a secret intelligence organization to defend the security of that society. It would be counterproductive to argue against openness, particularly in the aftermath of the Cold War and recognition that public awareness is one of the strongest pillars of a free society. Nonetheless, as there are legitimate abridgments to the First Amendment, so there have to be abridgments to openness in order to avoid heedless and inappropriate applications of the concept, which threaten the Viability of the CIA mission. If the Clandestine Service (CS) is rendered ineffective due to the Agency's inability or unwillingness to insist on rational and reasonable applications of openness to the business of intelligence, we will be found guilty of a self-inflicted intelligence failure that could prove fatal. It is imperative that the senior managers of the Directorate of Operations (DO), home of the CS, become intimately involved in declassification issues. They need to drive the 'openness train,' not ride in the caboose, if a major wreck is to be avoided.