The Cape and the Buffoon

BLUF: We were the Insurgents

Earlier today Edward N Luttwak wrote an opinion piece How the CIA Lets America Down at the Wall Street Journal. He challenged the piece, Honor Veterans by Having the Will to Win a War written by HR McMasters from Veterans Day in the same WSJ space.

Luttwak doesn’t go far enough, granted he only had 300 words to make his point — but I doubt he has a lot left. Here’s a tell on Luttwak. Yes, HUMINT collectors et al don’t learn the language. His noting that obvious fact is like him pointing to the scuffed court where his ball landed and claiming a point…we all see it, his shot is in the middle of the damned service box. That isn’t where pros make points. Let’s be clear, he’s serving underhanded-Posh and Pippa aren’t sitting at muni-courts watching 2.5 rated players battle for sets.

Yes, we should in theory learn the language…but we should do a lot of things as collectors that institutionally we fail to do. Collectors should be cultural masters and folks who navigate any urban or rural environment within their area of expertise. We should at a minimum have a professional capacity to work with an interpreter. Interpreters should be briefed, prepped, and trained to be more than simple translation boxes-we don’t care to do this. Only professional grade agent/interpreter teams should deploy…and then only after a lot of practice in…