The role of U. S. intelligence is to safeguard our national security and protect our country. No president or military leader can adequately serve their duties without reliable intelligence. Intelligence reveals the truth, identifies threats, evaluates the information at hand, and clarifies the outcomes of actions or inactions. That’s how intelligence is meant to function.
Each day, the president receives a briefing on key global threats. Intelligence briefers present a summary of this information, known as the President’s Daily Brief, to the president and his national security team while answering questions about its reliability. This is how intelligence should be delivered to our nation’s leaders.
When the president disregards how intelligence is gathered and presented, and appoints individuals with no experience in intelligence roles to sensitive positions, he risks jeopardizing U. S. security.
Intelligence is collected by skilled officers trained to gather sensitive information from human and technological sources. Many of these human sources put their lives at risk daily to obtain vital insights into what our adversaries are planning. This information remains highly classified; if it fell into enemy hands, it could endanger our spies’ lives.
From my experience as CIA director, I learned that those working in intelligence prioritize being good Americans over political affiliations. They face tough challenges because they are dedicated to safeguarding our nation.
When the president overlooks how intelligence is collected and assigns people without relevant expertise to critical positions, he puts national security at stake. If appointees are chosen for political reasons rather than their ability to handle intelligence tasks effectively, they will undermine its essential purpose. Political operatives have no place in protecting America’s safety.
Political operatives have no place in protecting America’s safety.
The reality is that when the president lets politics drive his decisions regarding national security, he’s failing his duty as commander-in-chief. He’s weakening the country and signaling to adversaries that he values trivial politics over defense matters.
This approach ultimately harms him too. He needs solid intelligence support. The mission in Venezuela aimed at capturing Nicolás Maduro wouldn’t have succeeded without excellent intelligence work behind it. If capable personnel lose their jobs due to political whims from the president, he’ll face serious consequences along with his administration.
Compounding these issues is the demand from the president for American intelligence officials to disclose names of all foreign espionage targets-including suspected spies and potential recruits-creating a master list that officials worry could be misused or threaten ongoing operations.
Leon E. Panetta
Leon E. Panetta was director of the Central Intelligence Agency from 2009 to 2011 and secretary of defense from 2011 to 2013.
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Leon E. Panetta
Leon E. Panetta was director of the Central Intelligence Agency from 2009 to 2011 and secretary of defense from 2011 to 2013.
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