Is Anyone Listening?
The latest national intelligence assessment has fallen on deaf ears
In late February 2015, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) released its Worldwide Threat Assessment on behalf of the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC). This assessment provides an unclassified overview of what the IC deems as the greatest challenges to our national security interests within the U.S. and abroad. Also, it presents an overview various crises across the globe.
In previous years, Capitol Hill was extremely interested in receiving this assessment. Unfortunately, this year DNI Director James Clapper was directed to give a briefing only to the Senate Armed Services Committee because neither the House of Representatives nor Senate Intelligence Committees requested nor had any interest in hearing the assessment.
Since the evolution of this DNI assessment nine years ago, ODNI has provided briefings which have spurred great interest to comprehend the latest threats based on assessments from multiple agencies embedded within the IC. Currently, the DNI assesses that the most significant risk to U.S. national security interests comes from cyber threats. This threat has been deemed the number one risk since 2013. In 2012, the DNI had determined cyber as an emerging threat which was ranked below the proliferation threat from North Korea and Iran. Apparently, this emerging threat appears to be growing like bamboo. This year, behind cyber, counterintelligence is ranked #2, terrorism #3, and at # 4 is weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and proliferation. These threats change from year-to-year, but cyber has maintained the #1 position while counterintelligence has risen from #4 to a steady #2 over the last four years.
Due to the intelligence leaks caused by Edward Snowden and others, including our cold war foes in Russia (formerly the Soviet Union) and China in the DNI assessment could pose significant counterintelligence challenges which are comparable during the height of the Cold War. These re-emerging threats pose significant risks throughout the homeland security enterprise that affect all at the smallest, local levels of governments.
All of these threats could cause grave consequences for U.S. and its interests abroad, so why isn’t anyone listening? Why does Congress seem so disinterested? Do misperceived threats to our economy and unforeseen threats posed by counterintelligence get thrown by the wayside because our representatives in Congress do not perceive the physical dangers from these threats? Do their particular interests get in the way of assessing and mitigating these critical gaps in our national security interests? On May 11, the Washington Post reported that members of the Armed Services Committee asked DNI Clapper about items not directly related to the top current threats, but they were intrigued about assessments in countries such as the Ukraine and the workings of the Heathcare.gov Website (no kidding).
The DNI’s threat assessment is not a perfect document, especially when its vagueness intrigues the American public’s yearning to understand these risks. The world of intelligence is a unique environment, where it is hard to measure — let alone understand — deterrence. As we have learned over the last decade, intelligence does not only happen overseas: it serves a purpose in our domestic lives as well. These threats, as classified by the DNI, significantly affect our homeland security interests and continuity. It is in ODNI’s best interest to continue to educate not only the American Congress but also the public it serves.
The Congress should do its part to listen to the DNI, so it can continue learn about these formidable threats. In turn, hopefully, both entities can collaborate on solutions that can significantly mitigate these risks — and potential unforeseen ones — from occurring and potentially devastating our homeland security posture.
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