CIA Has No Margin for Error

The Obama administration's decision to eliminate the required screening of air passengers originating in terrorist havens will only place a greater burden on the intelligence community, making it more difficult for them to quickly identify potential threats.

For an administration that seems at times to be down on the CIA, its new national security policies rely heavily on the intelligence community. The new policies center on airline regulations and guidelines on the status of newly captured terrorists.

The new airline regulations will screen passengers with certain personal characteristics that match the latest intelligence information; yet, eliminate the screening of passengers whose flights originate in 14 terrorist haven countries.

By taking away the other screening methods a greater burden falls on the intelligence community to always get it correct.  A CIA operative explained that the terrorists will send people who are inconsistent with the intelligence leads.  The real problem is the individuals that are unknown.  Former CIA Director Michael Hayden emphatically noted to FrumForum that “We cannot depend on this because you are betting the farm that your intelligence is exquisite.  You would need all the thought lines and all the profiles of the people they are throwing at you, and that is a dangerous assumption.”