This morning, the Washington Post began a series of articles on the growth of the Intelligence Community following the terrorist attacks on 9/11. The reporting does not reflect the Intelligence Community we know.
We accept that we operate in an environment that limits the amount of information we can share. However, the fact is, the men and women of the Intelligence Community have improved our operations, thwarted attacks, and are achieving untold successes every day.
In recent years, we have reformed the IC in ways that have improved the quality, quantity, regularity, and speed of our support to policymakers, warfighters, and homeland defenders, and we will continue our reform efforts. We provide oversight, while also encouraging initiative. We work constantly to reduce inefficiencies and redundancies, while preserving a degree of intentional overlap among agencies to strengthen analysis, challenge conventional thinking, and eliminate single points of failure. We are mindful of the size of our contractor ranks, but greatly value the critical flexibility and specialized skills they contribute to our mission.
The challenges that lie ahead are difficult and complex. We will continue to scrutinize our own operations, seek ways to improve and adapt, and work with Congress on its crucial oversight and reform efforts. We can always do better, and we will. And the importance of our mission and our commitment to keeping America safe will remain steadfast, whether they are reflected in the day’s news or not.
David C. Gompert
ODNI Documents Respond to Washington Post’s Top Secret America Series
Q&A on the IC Post-9/11 and Truth about Contractors address some of the issues raised in the Washington Post series but the tone is dry, defensive, and bureaucratic. This is...
Top Secret America: 854,000 People Hold Security Clearances
An estimated 854,000 people, nearly 1.5 times as many people as live in Washington, D.C., hold top-secret security clearances. – Top Secret America, Washington Post Everyone seems to up in...
Video: Frontline Sneak Peek – Inside “Top Secret America”
On the Web: Frontline: Top Secret America Washington Post: Top Secret America Digg this post Recommend on Facebook Share on Linkedin Share on Posterous share via Reddit Share with Stumblers...
Rep. Pete Hoekstra Reacts to Washington Post’s Top Secret America Series
U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich., the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee today issued the following statement in response to the first story in a series of reports by...
Washington Post Launches Top Secret America
The project in their own words: “Top Secret America” is a project nearly two years in the making that describes the huge national security buildup in the United States after...
