From: "Sources Briefings & eJOURNAL, DSO Inc." <sales@dso.com> (by way ofSteve Schear)
Date: Sun, 1 Feb 1998 06:48:22 +0800
To: cypherpunks@cyberpass.net
Subject: DEBATE IN THE INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY
Message-ID: <v03102801b0f72761b21f@[208.129.55.202]>
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:	INFORMATION CONTACT:Cynthia Johnston 415 731-1905,
pr@dso.com


REPORT IN SOURCES BRIEFINGS STIRS HEATED DEBATE IN INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY


San Francisco, CA.  SOURCES BRIEFINGS, a newsletter delivering raw
intelligence, reported recently that CIA Inspector General Fredrick Hitz
has declared open source intelligence a waste of time and money -- and
hit a raw nerve in the intelligence community.

The CIA Inspector General, speaking about the CIA's role in todays
intelligence structure, admitted that he feels threatened by the presence
of those in private industry and in government who are pursuing
intelligence in new ways. He says that private industry is actually ahead
of the CIA in technologies such as satellite imaging and encryption,
according to the article in the current issue of SOURCES BRIEFINGS
(www.dso.com).

Even though Hitz says he finds the new computer encryption and information
systems incredibly terrifying, he dismisses open source intelligence,
inside and outside of the government agencies, as merely a collection of
newspaper stories on various issues...

SOURCES BRIEFINGS subscribers in the intelligence community were quick to
challenge Hitz assertions. A senior Pentagon official with access to the
Secretary of Defense stated, Mr. Hitz may have revealed more than he
intended regarding the mindset that often holds the Intelligence Community
(IC) hostage. Secrets can be addictive and like potato chips it is hard
just to have one. It is easy to binge on them and end up without a well
balanced intelligence diet. The IC gets addicted to its own secrets and
[gets] fat on classified self-importance.

Robert Steele, CEO of Open Source Solutions Inc., joined the battle saying,
We are at a very important cross-roads in the history and maturity of the
U.S. intelligence community... The Commission on Intelligence found that
its access to open sources is severely deficient and should be a top
priority...

Open sources are of proven value in tip-off, in guiding secret collection,
in placing secret information in context, and in providing cover for
secretly obtained information which must be shared with coalition partners
to whom secret sources and methods cannot or should not be revealed.

An NSA officer on loan to the military said, This guy's parochial,
narrow-minded, elitist thinking (Leave it to the patrician professionals,
you fumbling amateurs) perfectly embodies what is, and has for a long
time, been wrong with the CIA. I suspect that one reason for this
gentleman's self-admitted fear is that the CIA doesn't really have that
many truly clandestine sources, and he's afraid people will learn just how
much OSINT is a better value for dollars expended.

Responses to Hitz remarks continue to pour in to SOURCES and the editors
are preparing to devote space exclusively to this debate.

A sample of SOURCES BRIEFINGS, as well as subscription information can be
obtained online at http://www.dso.com or by calling 1-888-8-DSO-COM
(1-888-8-376-266).

For further information, or to set up interviews with SOURCES seasoned
investigative journalists, intelligence experts and banking specialists,
please contact Cynthia Johnston at 415 731-1905 or at pr@dso.com.

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