Intelligence – Page 2 – CSS Blog Network

ISN Weekly Theme: Past, Present and Future of OSINT

Open source intelligence (OSINT) has garnered a lot of attention in the security community in the recent years, but the gathering and analysis of readily available material for intelligence purposes isn’t new. The history of OSINT goes back to pre-WWII days. This week, we’re offering an in-depth examination of OSINT, starting with our latest edition of ISN Podcasts. In Past, Present and Future of OSINT, Professor Arthur S Hulnick discusses the role OSINT has played in the intelligence arena.

In Primary Resources, we have the transcript of the speech by UK MI5 Director General Jonathan Evans, Intelligence, Counter-Terrorism and Trust.

You can find out about the EUROSINT Forum in our IR Directory.

Open Source Intelligence: A Strategic Enabler of National Security from our parent organization Center for Security Studies is on offer in Policy Briefs.

And as always, remember that you can connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.

The CIA has disclosed a long-awaited report on its controversial interrogation methods as part of President Obama’s transparency promise. On his second day in office, he signed an executive order strengthening the Freedom of Information Act.

So now is the time for the public to read that █████ ███ ██ █████████ █ █████████ █████. And even more is revealed, e. g. ██████████ ██ ████ ███████ █ ███ █ ███████. If you have no idea by now, better ████████████████ ████ ████████ █ ██████ ██ ████████, because ████████████████████████ ██████ ██ ██ ██████████████.

The CIA's report on interrogation methods

In the future, the newly created “High Value Detainee Interrogation Group” will handle the questioning of high-level prisoners. It is led by the FBI and will act in strict accordance with the the US Army field manual on interrogations, the █████████. I’m sorry, this one, the FM 2-22.3, is of course “approved for public release; distribution is unlimited”.

If it is approved for public release, it cannot be bad, right? And if CIA spokesman Paul Gimigliano notes that “The CIA in no way endorsed behavior – no matter how infrequent – that went beyond formal guidance. This has all been looked at. […] That’s how the system was supposed to work, and that’s how it did work,” then I wonder whether that formal guidance was blacked out in the first place, too?