So states U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Michael T. Flynn, the deputy chief of staff, intelligence for the International Security Assistance Force, who is the highest-ranking intelligence officer in Afghanistan.

He and his team, U.S. Marines Capt. Matt Pottinger and Paul D. Batchelor of the Defense Intelligence Agency, have written an important and provocative critique of the weaknesses in the collection, analysis, dissemination and usefulness of intelligence gathered in and about Afghanistan.

It is interesting to note that this white paper, "Fixing Intel: a Blueprint for Making Intelligence Relevant in Afghanistan," was published by the Center for a New American Security, which is well outside of the traditional military sources for expressing such views.

Flynn's premise is that current intelligence practices do not provide high-level decision-makers the information, analysis and, ultimately, the knowledge they need to wage a successful counterinsurgency. This is because intelligence resources have devoted too much effort on targeting insurgents and too little analysis of the environment in which U.S. and allied forces operate and the people they need to persuade. The latter requires a greater understanding of local economics, culture and tribal nodes of influence such as its leadership structure, alliances and feuds.

To address that shortcoming, Flynn recommends the use of specially trained analysts empowered to methodically identify everyone who collects valuable information, visit them in the field, build mutually beneficial relationships with them, and gather information, create narratives, and share these intelligence products to whoever requires them. This would include information such as: who the key personalities are, how local attitudes are changing, what levels of violence exist, how enemy tactics are evolving, why farmers chose to plant more wheat than poppy this winter, what development projects have historically occurred or are under way, etc.

The analysts will form the core of new Stability Operations Information Centers, which will provide clearinghouses for information from the field. Information "brokers" will be located at the Information Centers to help analysts organize and disseminate the information stored in commonly used databases.

The authors say regional commands, often brigades and divisions, are the logical level for basing Stability Operations Information Centers. Such locations provide the air support, connectivity and infrastructure for analysts to travel to lower echelons and write their reports, and for information brokers to input and disseminate data.

The recommendations are thought-provoking, and a change from the status quo is clearly warranted. The challenge will be in the execution, which is not trivial.

Flynn suggests that, while conducting a war, we should execute strategic change in intelligence processes and behavior among organizations already in theater, all of whom operate within well-entrenched structural and functional comfort zones. It combines all the features and challenges of a project manager's dream job and ultimate nightmare starting from cultural change to implementing or reconfiguring the technology to maximize the impact of the new processes.

Indeed, there are already huge quantities of raw data available, but they may be in different formats, different languages, from different source types and are often hidden from view in data silos. It would be unwise not to leverage potentially important archived data. Existing off-the-shelf technologies can be enablers in such cases. For example, there are solutions to analyze Open Source Intelligence 24/7 (real-time or recorded public Web sites or video) in multiple languages, where specific information is gleaned and sorted automatically. Unstructured data content, whether classified or unclassified, can be searched with a single query across file systems, intranets and various database and content repositories. Human networks can be analyzed and mapped.

Diverse multinational systems and applications only create greater complexity, potential non-interoperability and a decrease in information sharing. Exchange of information horizontally across unit boundaries may encounter domain or application incompatibilities both within and between coalition forces. Insurgents often congregate along the seams of different areas of responsibility, a situation that increases the need for effective information sharing.

Without command emphasis to enforce cooperation among intelligence, plans, operations, computing, communications and appropriate agencies at each relevant level and diligent attention to process and cultural change, one could simply create, as the authors state, the same situation where "vital information piles up in obscure SharePoint sites, inaccessible hard drives, and other digital junkyards." If not managed properly, Stability Operations Information Centers could add yet another new stovepipe to the gaggle that already exists in many regional command staffs, workgroups and fusion teams.

Flynn and his team have presented an excellent concept, but idea generation and implementation are different. Generating ideas is about the ability to learn, which they have clearly demonstrated. Implementing those ideas is about the command's responsibility to perform. For that, we must wait and see.

(Lawrence Sellin, Ph.D., is a colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve and a veteran of the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. The views expressed are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Army or government.)

(United Press International's "Outside View" commentaries are written by outside contributors who specialize in a variety of important issues. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of United Press International. In the interests of creating an open forum, original submissions are invited.)

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