Analysis: Intelligence Agencies 'Must Do Better'

The Iraq Study Group

The U.S. intelligence community has failed to provide policymakers with a clear understanding of the Iraq insurgency, the role of militias or the level of violence in that country, according to the Iraq Study Group.

"Clearly U.S. intelligence agencies can and must do better," the group's report said, though it praises the gathering of day-to-day intelligence about enemy targets and notes that the gathering of information from human sources has improved.

"The quality of the intelligence has to be disappointing with regard to the insurgency," former representative Lee H. Hamilton (D-Ind.), co-chairman of the group, told reporters yesterday. "We are having a huge time, still, identifying the enemy."

The group singled out the lack of analysts experienced in insurgency with needed language skills, such as Arabic, as well as familiarity with Iraqi culture.

As an example, the report says the panel was told that fewer than 10 Defense Intelligence Agency analysts have more than two years' experience analyzing insurgencies, and that the rotation system of the military prevents development of experts. A DIA spokesman said yesterday that about 100 experienced analysts in Iraq and Washington work these issues. He questioned how the study group arrived at its conclusions.

Read the rest at the Washington Post