History of intelligence gathering: The Cold War

On March 5, 1946, Winston Churchill, former Prime Minister of Great Britain rose to give a speech at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, a grim look on his face and an even grimmer message in his heart. His speech began with praise for his staunch ally and friend, President Harry S. Truman and the United […]

The Business of Drugs: A Navy SEAL & a CIA officer tackle the drug trade

What happens when a former Navy SEAL and a former CIA officer get together and decide to study the drug trade? A splendid and gripping documentary series. The Bussiness of Drugs, which premiers today on NETFLIX, offers an original approach to the international drug trade. Created and produced by former Navy SEAL and journalist Kaj […]

Western spies are failing against Russia and China: time for a spycraft revolution

Western models of spycraft are failing. Traditional models of spycraft seek to inform decision-making based on predictive analysis, but this is no longer effective in today’s environment. By nature, closed and authoritarian regimes, such as Russia and China, have an easier job of spying on their more progressive and open adversaries — the United States […]

Killer of 3 Special Forces operators is unlikely to be extradited

On November 4, 2016, three U.S. Army Special Forces operators were shot dead as they were re-entering the King Faisal Air Base, Jordan. Their killer, Jordanian Air Force Sergeant Ma’arik al-Tawayha, was stopped by another Green Beret before he could kill more Americans. He was arrested, and after a controversial trial, was sentenced to life […]

The top 4 things you need to know about intelligence gathering and use

Inscribed on the CIA’s original headquarters in Langley is a passage from the Gospel of St. John: “And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.” This unofficial Agency motto alludes to the truth and clarity that intelligence provides to decision-makers, similar to the “knowledge is power” mantra. But what happens […]

Political clash over Russian Bounties heats up

Nothing gets the blood boiling faster in Washington than political infighting. The most recent case concerns the alleged Russian practice of paying the Taliban for killing American soldiers. According to a report by the New York Times, U.S. intelligence officials had determined that a Russian military intelligence unit (GRU) had offered militants allied to the […]

The Russian bounties and the danger of politicizing intelligence

SOFREP recently identified the problems surrounding the bombshell New York Times piece claiming a secret Russian military intelligence unit was offering Afghan militants bounties to kill US troops. Namely, if the intelligence is true and accurate, why was no action taken to hold Russia accountable? This damning intelligence report was allegedly briefed to President Trump […]

Russia’s Afghan bounties isn’t the most alarming part of the case

Last Friday, in an exclusive story, the New York Times reported that a Russian military intelligence unit had been offering bounties to militias linked to the Taliban for the killing of American and Coalition troops in Afghanistan. They did so in an attempt to derail the peace talks between the U.S and the Taliban. At […]

$10 million bounty for information on the new ISIS leader

The U.S. government has increased the bounty for information that will lead to the capture or killing of the new leader of the Islamic State to $10 million. Amir Mohammed Sa’id Abdal Rahman al-Mawla, also known as Hajji Abdallah, became the new leader of ISIS after his predecessor Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed during a […]

CIA Reading List: Suggested readings for intelligence professionals

While intelligence is mostly known for its classified nature, a good portion of intelligence work is conducted using open source methods. OSINT, or open-source intelligence as it is referred to, is a valuable tool critical to any bit of analysis. A responsible intelligence analyst always takes into consideration the OSINT available. While it cannot (or […]