The Stratfor Glossary of Useful, Baffling and Strange Intelligence Terms

Every profession and industry has its own vocabulary. Using baseball terms to e plain a football game is tough. These are some of the terms we use.

!ccess

!ctionable Intelligence !ctivate !ctive intelligence !fter !ction "ebrief

!fter !ction *eport !ll0source ,usion %ell !nalysis

!rea of Interest

!bility of an agent to get hold of information. "ifference between having someone on the ground and someone who is actually valuable is access. #aving someone on the ground in $ashington "% doesn&t tell you if he wor's for the (ational Security %ouncil or sells hotdogs on the corner. In intelligence there are three things that matter) access, access and access. *ule of thumb) anyone who says they have access doesn&t. Intelligence that can be used by the customer to ma'e decisions. !s opposed to metaphysical intelligence valued for the purity of its insight. Bringing a source to life. Sources are rarely continually operational. They are put to bed and activated depending on evolving missions or deranged hunches "irectly developing and operating sources in the field. *e+uires uni+ue s'ills. (ormally not carried out by analysts, but by intelligence operators. "on&t try this at home 'ids. ,ollowing a completed op, everyone who had anything to do with it gets debriefed. This closes out the -ps %rypt and a saniti.ed version is entered into a /essons /earned report and becomes part of the training. In the government, success and failure are e+ually unrewarded. !t Stratfor, we do it differently. The final report on the conclusion of an -p .Intended for internal use only. (ever show the customer. It&s li'e showing someone how sausage is made. (auseating. ! trans0compartmentali.ed group of analysts who get to see everything and have to ma'e sense of it. "on&t wish it on your worst enemy. That part of the craft of intelligence which concerns itself with collating and understanding the information that has been delivered from all sources. !nalysts sit on their dead asses all day long thin'ing deep thoughts. They 'now too much to ris' in the field, plus they are too dumb to 'now when to duc'. ! country, region or industry in which an intelligence organi.ation has an ongoing or current interest. The framewor' for source development. !-Is are given to an intelligence organi.ation by 1-TUS or Bi."ev. 2ust be tiered.

!rea of *esponsibility

!T, Bac' Brief

Bac'ground %hec'

Bac'grounder

Barium 2eal

Blac' Bo ed

Blac' -p Blown -p

!rea that an individual or group is responsible for. Usually managed by an Intelligence -fficer who delegates !-*s to staff. Built out of !rea of Interest but sometimes designed differently depending on resources, hunches, s3ances with dead ancestors. ,or e ample, you might run all of your !frica ops out of your /ondon !-* because /ondon is the %enter of Gravity of !frica intelligence. !-* design is part of the craft. !lcohol Tobacco and ,ire !rms. *ednec's with a license to 'ill. (ever, ever, ever as' for their help on anything. !fter the briefing, the Briefer comes bac' to the shop and tells everyone what happened. This is the bac' brief. If you don&t get bac' briefed, you don&t have a functioning intelligence organi.ation. %hec' of history of someone to determine reliability. Usually meaningless. ! perfect credit rating does not mean you aren&t devious scum. "oes run up the client&s bill and ma'es it appear that you are busy. %lancy move. 1ros run tests. General analysis that gives the customer better situational awareness. The customer never actually reads the Bac'grounder. Its primary use is as cover when the customer screws something up. Bac'grounders are the basic intelligence tool for shifting blame to the customer. $hen there is a lea', feed bits of radioactive 4traceable, false5 information to suspects. See which bit lea's. 6ou will 'now who lea'ed it. The lea'er will 'now you 'now. /ivens up a dull day li'e nothing else we&ve ever seen. Bring the 'ids. !ny part of the operation that has an outcome that you can&t e amine. 6ou&re handed a report that says the *ussians have invented time travel. 6ou as' where this came from. 6ou&re told that the source is out of your reach but you are to treat the report as gospel. 6ou&ve 7ust been blac' bo ed. 6our door 'eeper tells you to 'eep a careful eye on 2adagascar. 6ou as' why. 6ou&re told that you have no need to 'now. 6ou&ve been blac' bo ed. /ater, when it turns out that the *ussians don&t have time travel or that nothing is happening in 2adagascar, you will be blamed for s+uandering resources. That&s called being screwed. If you heard even a hint of it, it ain&t blac'. !nyone who tells you about a blac' op is a liar. "oes Stratfor do blac' ops8 6ou&ll never 'now. !n operation that has been compromised to the

Board

B-%

Brief

Brief the Times

Briefer

Burning

opposition or publicly revealed. The blown op is followed by the impartial en+uiry. The impartial en+uiry is following by the e ecution of those least responsible for blowing the op. $hen an op gets so badly blown that pretending everything is fine will no longer wor', you get a Board. ! Board consists of 9 or more $-Gs whose 7ob it is to ma'e sure that only you are blamed for what happened. 1ulling a board is bad. !t Stratfor, it involves tal'ing to "avid, George or "on. If all three at the same time, very bad. Time to consider an e citing career in the food service industry. Burnt -ut %ase) :Tony got bac' from (igeria fried. Two bullet wounds, a blown op and a board. #e reali.ed that he&s ma'ing ;<=,>>> a year and that his wife is real ugly. #e was given non0classified Iceland traffic for his ne t tour. "oesn&t give a damn. #e&s doing !2$!6 on the side. Total B-%.? !n intelligence report delivered to the customer. ,re+uently delivered as an oral briefing with power point and leave behind materials that are never read. The Brief is where the intelligence process meets the customer. ! bad Brief can sin' the best -p. ! good Brief can ma'e shit smell good. ,re+uently has to. $hen the Briefer has obtained .ero valuable intelligence from analysis, he finds something in the inside of the morning paper, powers up a view graph, and :Briefs the Times.? %ustomers are fre+uently impressed. It&s a hoot. The person delivering the Brief. #e has the ability to rapidly assimilate comple material, deliver routine news as if it were reports of the second coming, and generate a re0tas' from the customer, guaranteeing larger contracts. #e reports bac' on the satisfaction level of the customer, clearly defines new missions and guides the customer on the path to reality. $hen the customer says :I want to 'now everything about@.? The Briefer e plains that no one 'nows everything about anything, certainly not for what the customer is paying. #e does offer the :Anow !lmost Everything 1ac'age? if the contract is tripled. The Briefer ma'es or brea's an intelligence operation. The occupational disease of the Briefer) he starts to believe that the purpose of an op is to ma'e him loo' good in the briefing and truly believes that he is the only one of value in the company. Great briefers are narcissists and must be bitch slapped regularly. If an operation is being compromised, a plan called

Bridges

Businessman

B62

Burning Bridges must be activated. 6ou burn bridges by cutting the lin's in your operational chain, so that none of the parts can find each other again. Effective, low0cost way to divorce your spouse. ! source that does what he does for money. Businessmen will sell out to the highest bidder so are considered temporary employees. 6ou must find a way to ma'e them scared shitless of you. ! high SS +uotient is the foundation of a warm, lasting relationship with a Businessman. Bright 6oung 2an. "oesn&t 'now shit. "oesn&t 'now that he doesn&t 'now. /i'ely to burn you the first time out. Try to get him 'illed as +uic'ly as possible. The person who manages an agent in the field. The management of an agent is a craft in itself, re+uiring the s'ills of a psychologist and the morals of a pimp. #ighly pri.ed in the business. The place to locate an operative at the lowest cost with the ma imum return on information. %-G is fre+uently counter0intuitive. The best source of information on (igeria is not to be found in (igeria. The %-G for (igeria is in /ondon. This theory was created by people trying to get sent to /ondon instead of /agos. %-G is not a hard and fast rule. There ain&t no handboo' for the amateur spoo' on this. %entral Intelligence !gency. !lso called :/angley? or :up river.? -wns human intelligence 4directorate of operations5 and analysis 4directorate of intelligence5. "irector, %I! is supposed to oversee all of the intelligence community. Isn&t that a 7o'e8 Imagine the 1ost -ffice with a foreign policy. ! customer with limited resources as'ing for enormous amounts of intelligence. "efines most of Stratfor&s customers. !nalyst&s "isease. :!? releases a bit of dubious information. :B? reads the claim and puts it in his report. :!? reads the information in B&s report and decides that his information may actually be true. :%? pic's up :!&s? and :B&s? reports and e pands on it creatively. :!? and :B? now both believe their original piece of bullshit is absolutely true. !ctually, there&s not a word of truth to any of it. IT&S ! %I*%/E CE*A. Somebody who has read a lot of Tom %lancy

%ase -fficer

%enter0of0gravity

%I!

%I! !ppetiteBBotswana budget %ircle Cer'

%lancy

%landestine

%learance

%ode %rypt %oerced source

%ollections

%ompartmentali.ed

%ompromised

%omSec

novels and thin's he 'nows the %raft. Total moron. *eally dangerous if he is the %ustomer. (ever let a Briefer be a %lancy. -peration that has no open connection to anyone. Israeli ma im) :If you&re captured, we don&t 'now you. If you&re 'illed, we won&t bury you. So@don&t get captured and don&t get 'illed.? %landestine is synonymous with suicidal. *ight to see a certain class of information. Being cleared to see a class of information doesn&t establish need to 'now. It simply establishes the level of trust you are held in. In $ashington, clearances are primarily about social standing. *eally cool clearances are so secret you can&t tell anyone you have one. The code name and control of a source in encrypted form. If this confuses you, it&s wor'ing. Someone who is a source because you have him by the balls. The most rare and pri.ed variety of source. The 'ey here is to ma'e sure that the source thin's that wor'ing for you ma'es more sense than shooting you. Aeep an e tremely close eye on changing moods. The general term for collecting information from all sources. (ormally, the heart of operations. !t Stratfor, we shift passive collections to the analysts. Somebody else handles active intelligence. There&s a whole other Stratfor out thereDsomewhere. Information so sensitive that it is bro'en into pieces with few given access to all the pieces. The more you compartmentali.e, the less you can be compromised. The more you compartmentali.e, the more difficult it is to figure out what the hell is going on. ,inding the sweet spot is part of the %raft. General term referring to a disastrous condition. 6our own op can be compromised. 6ou may compromise a potential source to ma'e him wor' for you. 6our source may be compromised by someone else. Interchangeable with abgefu't. %ommunications Security. Basic ruleDdon&t as', don&t tell. The %ase -fficer&s rule) don&t tell anybody. Bi."ev&s rule) tell everybody. This is where the %E- and %I- really need to be on the same page.

%ontractor

%ontrol %over for Status

! source that has been placed under contract by the intelligence organi.ation. The contract spells out what he gets, when he gets it, what he must deliver, and where he will find various parts of his body if he 7er's you around. The contractor can wor' for ;E> a month or ;E million a year. %ontractors are never covered by health insurance. -ther term for %ase -fficer. 6our story as to why you are a pale white guy not associated with an (G-, living in a village in !frica. Transcends mere legend in its implausibility. British intelligence The identity you give an officer in the field or a contract agent being inserted. ,re+uently not intended to be convincing, li'e a FE year old guy who reads %ar and "river and #ustler, but carries the title of %ultural !ttach3 at the Embassy. Sometimes really importantD*eally. Two uses. -ne is the collection of information without letting the world 'now it is being collected. The other is active political action designed to achieve certain ends. It&s the difference between intelligence and solutions. -r the difference between 'nowing what %astro is doing and the Bay of 1igs. Intelligence is not an art or a science. It is referred to by the professional as The %raft, after !lan "ulles& 4a founder of %I!5 boo' :The %raft of Intelligence.? %raft covers all of the s'ills and abilities of intelligence from writing to briefing to spying. 1eople are said to have :good craft, or :bad craft? or :no frigging craft at all.? ! man with good craft can go into a bar, meet a beautiful woman assigned to seduce him, get seduced and wa'e up in the morning with the woman wor'ing for him. That&s great craft. -r a man is pic'ed up by a beautiful woman, convinces himself that she really li'es him in spite of the fact that he is fifty, balding and overweight. !fter two drin's he comes to feel that they really are soul mates. #e describes his latest operation in detail and never gets laid. This is a total lac' of craft. !ll operatives, li'e all fighter 7oc's, thin' they&ve got great craft. ! man&s got to believe in himself, right8

%ousins %over

%overt -perations

%raft

%redibility

%riteria of success or failure

%ustomerB%onsumer

%ut0out

Each source has a credibility ranging from /S-S to the $ord of God. Some organi.ations have numeric values for credibility. $e thin' credibility is more subtle than that, varying on the sub7ect to the time of the month. Aey trade craft is evaluating credibility. Basic cause of ulcers in the profession. 2eeting someone face to face does not increase your ability to 7udge credibility. "epending on glandular issues, it can decrease critical faculties dramatically. Intelligence would be great if it didn&t involve people. Every op must have a clear definition of what success or failure would loo' li'e. *e+uires interaction with customer. $ithout these, op success depends on the Briefer&s ability to spin li'e a mother. The real user of intelligence. ! decision ma'er who uses the intelligence to ma'e real decisions. !lso the one who decides to blame intelligence when his stupid plans blow up in his face. 2ust be 'ept happy at all times until he is e ecuted. !voiding being e ecuted with him is a 'ey part of the %raft. To facilitate security and deniability, many ops use cut0outs. These are individuals who manage sources. Ideally, they do not 'now the organi.ation they are wor'ing for. They 'now only the person they report toDsomeone who can disappear without a trace if need be, leaving the cut0out hosed. Gery nasty thing to do to your own people. That&s why you use contractors. If you are using your own person, ma'e sure that he can disengage without a trace. !nd ma'e sure he isn&t in love with one of his sourcesDliterally. That can be a bad business, I tell you, li'e chewing gum stic'ing to your shoe.

"angle

"ebriefing the %ustomer

! lure to trap someone, all too often you. Usually a bit of information designed to ma'e you trust a source that is doubled. Sometimes the little bit of information is very cute. "angle also stands for what happens to you if you bite. %ustomers usually have no idea what they really need. Some are %lancies who thin' they 'now what they want. Some are 7ust clueless. "ebriefing the customer is the start of any operation. "ebriefing the door 'eeper is 'issing your sister. "eciding not to debrief the customer

"eniability

"eniability00 Single "eniabilityD "ouble "eniability00 %omplete "enial 1lan

"I!

"isinformation

"oor 'eeper

"rop "uplicitous little bastards Empathy

is called :contract cancellation.? If the customer doesn&t want to be debriefed, get a big up front paymentDand ma'e sure the chec' clears. Some ops are too ugly to be owned. They need deniability. The craft teaches the means of deniability. (ot having deniability is li'e tightrope wal'ing without a net. It can be doneDfor a while. Then they scrape you up with a spatula. (eed to shield identity of customer&s organi.ation. Stratfor&s interest in the operation can be 'nown. %an allow target to 'now that someone is watching but must hide that it is the customer or Stratfor. Target must not 'now that anyone is loo'ing at all. 1ray for a stupid target. Specific plan for managing security breaches. In some intelligence organi.ations, multi0volume regulations. In others, the plan consists of running around circles, waving your arms and blaming everyone else. $hich one are we8 "efense Intelligence !gency. !lso called :down river? -wns military intelligence, sort of. Its basic 7ob is to 7ustify increased defense budgets. These guys actually try to run agents. -y vey. ! plausible story designed to confuse the other side or to create an uncomfortable political situation. Sometimes confuses your side more than the opposition. 2ost times, everybody leaves sha'ing their heads. The real customer always has a door 'eeper. The door 'eeper has no power and little 'nowledge. Satisfying the door'eeper is li'e 'issing your sister. Getting to the customer is the difference between a successful op and a failure. Use the door 'eeper to get to the customer. %hampagne is nice. $hatever it ta'es. $e don&t need to 'now. ! way, physical or digital, for two people who don&t 'now each other to pass information and instructions bac' and forth. Aey to Burning Bridges. Israeli Intelligence Thin'ing about the world the way the other guy thin's about the world. Essential to both operators and analysts. Both have to put themselves into the other guy&s shoes to figure out what he will do ne t. "efinitely not about warm fu..ies.

E pat

E ploitation ,BI

,ield -fficer

,orecast

,ratricide

,UB!*

,uc'ing ,rench Going (ative

%iti.en of one country who chose to live his life somewhere else. Usually has e tremely compelling reasons for doing so. -ccasionally useful as a source. ,re+uently used only because he spea's the native language of the %ase -fficer, and is therefore the only person in the country the %- can tal' to. ,re+uently useless because the only thing the e pat can say in the local lingo is :Bring me another gin and tonic boy.? This is the guy people are referring to when they say they have a source :on the ground.? #ighest and best use) pic'ing up the gossip from people at the #ilton poolside. Ta'ing advantage of information or a source. (ot to be used in the hearing of the source. ,ederal Bureau of Investigation, a'a the "owntown Gang. Gery good a brea'ing up used car rings. Aind of confused on anything more complicated. ,un to 7er' with. (ot fun when they 7er' bac'. The poor dumb bastard who gets to manage an operation in the field. !lways fighting for access to the sources of other ,-s, always blamed by the !nalysts for their screw ups. ,-s are prime candidates for 2/% or B-%. #eart of the analytic craft. !lso called fortunetelling. The prediction of what will happen in an area of interest is the hardest part of the craft. The area of interest could be the future of the world, or someone&s negotiating position at tomorrow&s meeting. The %raft teaches that it&s all the same. Two operations, unaware of each other, collide in the field, causing fratricide. The blame almost always belongs with senior management. It always winds up on the poor dumb bastard in the field. ,uc'ed Up Beyond !ll *ecognition. This is the phase of an operation gone so bad that even people in meetings 'now it ainHt gonna happen. This phase is immediately followed by the determination of blame. !lways placed on whoever was not invited to the 1lace the Blame 2eeting ,uc'ing ,rench "read of all Intelligence -fficers. ! %ase -fficer is managing sources in a guerrilla movement. The %- falls in love with a beautiful guerrilla and decides to 7oin in the 7ust struggle of the oppressed masses. Going (ative suc's. -ne part of the 1ortfolio !udit is ta'ing the temperature of the %ase -fficer. -ccupational disease with very bad prognosis. Best 'nown argument for euthanasia.

Green0carder

Ground Truth

#e won the %old $ar #e won the Gietnam $ar #eroic Son of a Bitch #onest source #oover&s "ress

! source wor'ing for you because he believes that you will ta'e him to !merica where he will own a Seven0Eleven. Try not to disabuse him until after you&ve s+uee.ed his sorry ass. Term used by field operatives to imply greater insight than analysts. Someone on the ground usually see about F> feet, depending on the si.e of the bar. Imagine someone tal'ing about the ground truth In $ashington, "%. Aind of silly. Ground truth is why field personnel can&t be trusted to do analysis. Egomaniacal bullshitter "eranged egomaniacal bullshitter #e&ll get us all 'illed if we don&t do something about him Someone who, once bribed, actually delivers the goods. Gery rare. 2ust be preserved if found. 6es, Cedgar li'ed to pop a dress on once in a while, 7ust to 'ind of 'ic' bac' and rela with %lyde. The dress is classified Top Secret and 'ept in a vault in the basement of the #oover Bldg. 1lay with that thought for a while and then decide if this profession is for you. #uman Intelligence. (ot as impressive as it sounds. !nother word for it is gossip. 2ost passive activities tap human sources. 2ost analysts read the (ew 6or' Times, and claim they are using humint through intermediaries. It&s totally true. %lancies love it. *eal humint is tough. Getting people to tell you what you need to 'now without them reali.ing what they are doing is not easy. ,unDbut not easy. Imagery Intelligence) pictures, from satellite photos of missile silos to snapshots of your e with a 'angaroo. #ard to get, harder to e ploit. 1robably avoid, e cept for the entertainment value. (o intelligence flow is complete. The analyst&s art is inference. !nyone who ever claimed to have a completely sourced analysis is an /S-S. The heart of the %raft is inference. -nly %lancies thin' inference is a wea'ness. Smilies live on inference. $hen your customer demands that you source every one of your assertions, avoid laughing in his face and send in the Briefer. It&s his 7ob to introduce reality in the dull life of a %lancy customer.

#umint

Imint

Inference

Intelligence -fficer

Individual charged with overseeing all aspects of an intelligence operation. Senior intelligence officers can manage multiple operations. %hief Intelligence -fficers manage thousands of operations, all leading to disaster. In the %I!, the Intelligence -fficer belongs to the "irectorate of -perations while !nalysts belong to the "irectorate of Intelligence. !t Stratfor, Intelligence -fficers oversee both intelligence operators and analysts. That way no one 'nows what is going on. $hen used by intelligence professionals, a useful aid to the craft. $hen used by management specialists who want to ma'e intelligence organi.ations operate with the effectiveness of Garden.com, a guide to ta'ing casualties. In the latter case, run, do not wal', to the nearest e it.

Intelligence 1rocess

Interrogation

CTT,

Aey %raft. 2ost interrogations occur without the sub7ect 'nowing they were interrogated. Interrogations need careful planning as to both personnel and +ueries. #ardest part of an interrogation) remembering what the sub7ect said the ne t morning. Coint Terrorism Tas' ,orce, an inter0agency group created to completely confuse all conceivable issues related to terrorism in a variety of metropolitan areas. 2a'ing sure that one operation doesn&t interfere with others. In a multi0op environment, the dangers of getting lines tangled is real and dangerous. The %I-&s 7ob is to 'eep the lines straight among all the operators or have a patsy to blame for his failures. $hat we call *ussian intelligence no matter how often they rename themselves. Briefing the "oor'eeper. 6ou go into the $hite #ouse ready to brief the 1resident. Instead, a I9 year old called Aimberly, who wor's on the appointments des', tells you that the 1resident is busy. #owever, the 1resident has personally as'ed Aimberly to ta'e the briefing and relay the information to the 1resident. 6ou&ve 7ust Aissed 6our Sister. Go bac' to the office and bac' brief your team that you 7ust briefed the $hite #ouse. /ie and say that it was with a senior

Aeeping lines straight

AGB Aissing 6our Sister

1residential advisor who as'ed for deniability. /easing a source /egal Going to another organi.ation to borrow a source. 1ayment is in cash or swapping spit. ! cover that ma'es the agent legal in the country he&s wor'ing in. #ighly fle ible conceptDalmost metaphysical. Sometimes refers to someone with diplomatic cover, which means the agent can only be e pelled and not tortured and 'illed. /egal is a good cover for !mericans In *ussia. The worst that can happen to them is that they can never go bac' to *ussia. /egal is a tough cover for *ussians. They go bac' to *ussia, never return to the United States and get reassigned to %had. The heart of a cover. The legend describes who you are, why you are there, what you are doing. It is a very comple 7ob to craft a good legend. ,ailure to craft a good legend re+uires a high degree of deniability or an independent income. The more screwed up the op the more you can learn from it. The tendency after a blown op is to get incredibly drun' and try to forget. The tas' of the %Iis to ma'e sure a debrief is done before e ecution of inebriation. 1recursor of) go Google. !nalytic tool, in which an analyst prowls through /e is putting together tiny bits of information to paint a picture. Aey part of the analyst&s passive craft (ever fall in love with a source. Tougher to say than do. The source is me. I am my source. #e would never lie to me. #e will never become useless. #e will never betray me. 6eah. Sure. /ying Sac' of Shit) !pplied to sources, is the reason why I-&s get grey hair. /owest rating on the credibility scale. 2egawatt) Israeli term for %I!. Ailowatt) Israeli term for themselves. They don&t really mean it. 2id0/ife %risis. Usage) :Tony got bac' from (igeria fried. Two bullet wounds, a blown op and a board. #e reali.es that he&s ma'ing ;<=,>>> a year and that his wife is real ugly. #e was given non0classified Iceland traffic for his ne t tour. ,uc'er went rogue and sold out to the %hinese.? 2/%s are dangerous creatures unless they become B-%s

/egend

/essons /earned

/e inate

/oving a source

/S-S 2egawattBAilowatt 2/%

2ole

2other

Someone planted in your organi.ation to gather information and screw up the wor's. 2oles are real and the more active we get, the more we attract them. That&s why code names and compartmentali.ation are so important. $e&re watching 6-U. %odename for legendary %I! chief of counter0 intelligence Cames Cesus !ngletonJ to some, a true !merican hero. To others, a whac'ed out lunatic. To the select few, he was both. !fter a few decades in the business, the lines blur. Basic, difficult concept. 1art of compartmentali.ation. /imiting information to those who need to 'now, regardless of clearance level. "ifferent organi.ations handle need to 'now in different ways. Briefers usually don&t 'now sources. %ase -fficers may not 'now customer. "i..yingly difficult to manage. Usually ignored until everyone is fired because of a lea'. !n intelligence product produced by analysts that summari.e the view, at any given time, of what is going on in an area of interest. Some intelligence organi.ations call this simply an Intelligence !ssessment. The I! is normally a fat boo'. The (! is usually the summary. $e do the (! and 'eep the boo' in our heads. (!s cause huge amounts of infighting between departments and between operations and analysis. 6ou can tell when Stratfor is holding a net assessment meeting by the screams and crying. ! set of interactive agents. Gery rare in reality. (etwor's have very high failure rates because penetrations ta'e everyone down. -perating sources in isolation is the preferred method. !nyone who says :we have a networ' of agentsBsources around the world? is a full of shit. #e really means we have a bunch of sources around the world and if he really does, he won&t tell you that. #e&ll as' what you need to 'now and will supply you with that. If you&re really running a global op, you don&t tell people thatDever. 2ost people claiming a global net mean that they have sources they can activate if they need to in a couple of places, usually e pats. Unless they are totally full of shit, which is more li'ely. The more they brag about networ's, the less li'ely they are to have them. Use networ' only if you don&t mean it. (ational *econnaissance -ffice. -wns Imint along with whatever (I2! is being called this wee'. They all sort of

(eed to Anow

(et !ssessment

(etwor'

(*-

(S!

-fficer

-n the ground

-p %enter

-pen Source

-peration

-perators -ver the Transom

1assive

hang out at ,t. Belvoir and a few non0descript but incredibly e pensive buildings around "%. 2ostly out to lunch. (ational Security !gency. !lso called The ,ort. -wns Sigint and Elint. %ompletely out of control. It is so compartmentali.ed they refer to other offices as BK or "= and genuinely don&t 'now what anyone else does. !n employee of the intelligence service. #e wor's the field in various ways and various roles including Intelligence -fficer, %ase -fficer, -perations -fficer and so on. #e gets health insurance and government pay. #e is (-T an analysts and thin's that all analysts are pencil nec'ed gee's. Thin's he can do a better 7ob at analysis than the analyst. #e still thin's the Bay of 1igs was a good idea. I have an agent on the ground. 2eaningless statement even if true. :I have an agent on the ground in $ashington? means that I 'now a guy who wor's at the Burger Aing on A Street. -r it means that I&ve got a man in the $hite #ouse. If the former, what good is it. If the latter, he wouldn&t be telling you. Basic rule) anyone who says they have an agent on the ground is trying to impress you. /ocation where operation is being run. !rea where there is no compartmentali.ation. !ccessible by only highly clearedBhighly vetted personnel. ,re+uently cannot leave during a sensitive op. Bathroom is bought to them. USG definition) everything in the world that we haven&t classified secret and above. *eal definition) stuff that&s on the internet. Sometimes cheaper than humint. ,re+uently much more e pensive and less reliable. ! discrete intelligence activity designed to achieve a certain tas', from gathering a piece of information or overthrowing a government. The time frame can vary from a few hours to years, and resources might be shared, but it is seen as s distinct mission. !lways has an Intelligence -fficer in charge. -r no one is in charge. (ormally refers to field operatives collecting intelligence through active operations and heavy drin'ing. Transoms used to be those things over doors where air circulated. Sometime, during the night, someone would toss an envelope over the transom, containing plans to a Soviet time machine. Every officer&s dreamDa gift of priceless intelligence with no strings, no effort, no wor'. !lso a great way to spoof the enemy. Intelligence that flows into you on its own. It&s usually

Intelligence

1atriot 1hoto -pportunity 1inging the System

1lacement

1ortfolio 1ortfolio audit 1ortfolio00 transferring 1ositioning

1ower1oint 1resentation

cheap and it is highly secure, in the sense that no one 'nows that you are loo'ing at them. In recent years, the internet has vastly increased the ability to do passive intelligence. The flow of passive material decreases the cost of intelligence and increases the time for analysis. 1roblem0the same intelligence is available to everyone. Stratfor&s strength is efficient gathering of passive intelligence, rapid patterning, superb analysis. -r so we tell our customers. Better to have a few sources in your poc'et as well. ! source who is betraying his country for ideological, religious, patriotic or other unreliable beliefs. Gery dangerous person. #e could change his mind. %hance to get information or compromising information on a target or source. Includes all sorts of electronic recording. Emitting information that is designed to be intercepted by the other side. Usual purpose) figure out their response patterns. -ther uses, confusing the other side, figuring out if one of your people is doubled, wasting time and money while loo'ing busy. ,irst +uestion to as' about a potential source. 1lacement refers not to his geographical position but to his location relative to information. The information that #itler was going to invade *ussia was located in To'yo. U.S. intelligence in To'yo found the information. (o one in Berlin could access it. Being on the ground is not as important as having access and access depends on placement. Sources owned by a %ase -fficer. Every %-s dread. #e has to review each source&s performance, including the ones he made up. $hen %-s shift, portfolios transfer. %an be a tric'y business. *e+uires lots of craft to e plain to your girl friend why you are moving out and the other guy is moving in. 2oving an agent into position to become useful. %an ta'e hours or years. Sometimes, positioning is done blind, not 'nowing if the intel will ever be valuable. !s in) who the hell cares about positioning an agent in !fghanistan8 $aste of money if you as' me 4former "%I in KLL<5. !n efficient means for turning comple and sophisticated analysis into half0witted bullets. If you can&t read a E> page analysis before invading a country or buying a company, you probably shouldn&t be in the business.

1ower1oint *anger

Single most destructive invention 'nown to man. 2ember of intelligence team whose primary contribution is the ma'ing 1ower1oint presentations. Usually assigned to least competent member of the team to 'eep him out of trouble. $inds up controlling the operation because management 'eeps promoting him because he ma'es neat animations. !nalyst who thin's he is so s'illed he no longer needs intelligence to do his wor'. !s in, :,riedman used to be a good analyst. #e&s turned into a 1undit.? (ot bad wor' if you can get it. Scaring the living shit out of a source in order to get a read on whether he is 7er'ing you around Intelligence that supports the customer in an ongoing negotiation or criminal arraignment. 2anaging sources without actually meeting them. Tric'y but cheap. 2y preference, actually. I&ll tell you about it. (o such thing. The stupid sonofabitch can never stop. !lways dreams of one last op to ma'e up for the ones he screwed up. Sub7ect definitely aware that he is being interrogated. (ot part of business intelligence operations unless e tremely high budget ! place to go where no one, not even your wife, will suspect that you are. Good place for rigorous interrogations. Soundproofing, for all uses, is essential. $hen a case officer brings home a recruited agent he has collected a Mscalp? in military intelligence. Gery rare. *e+uires multiple meetings with 1ower 1oints. In the meantime, the %ase -fficer is 'illed, which is what ma'es it rare. They catch counterfeiters, brea' up child pornography rings and guard the president. %ontinual identity crisis. Gery nice people. (ot, shall we say, the most sophisticated crew you&ll ever find. !ll operations must be carried out under certain security conditions 'nown as -1SE%. (o op e ists without an -1SE% level and tas'ing. The target also maintains security. !ll operations evaluate the target set&s security features and ma'e plans to penetrate it. ! plan without -1SE% is li'e wal'ing down the street na'ed. Sometimes interesting, fre+uently disgusting, rarely enlightening. %an get you arrested. This involves ma'ing contact with the outside world,

1undit

*attle his cage. *eal time operational support *emote %ontrol *etired agent *igorous interrogation Safe house Scalp

Secret Service

Security

Semi0!ctive

Intelligence

Sigint and E/I(T

Sitrep

Sleeper

Smiley

Sold the -p Source

Source "evelopment

either to contact e isting sources or to ping people who ma'e their living being sources 4State "epartment %ountry "es'.5 %arries a minimal ris' of revealing the mission. Sometimes re+uires mas'ing and a cover. !lways re+uires more effort that browsing the internet. Too bad. Signal intelligence and Electronic intelligence) from wiretaps to satellite intercepts. Usually e pensive, dangerous and re+uires physical effort. Good first mission for B62. Suggest that he try planting a bug in the Israeli Embassy in order to get good first hand e perience in elint. 6ou can find him the ne t morning at the curb in a plastic garbage bag. Short for Situation *eport. ,irst report on an event from any source. ! very 7unior person receives sitreps from all sources and delivers them to wherever they are supposed to go, internal or e ternal. Sitreps generate tas'ing for !nalysts and form the basis of some analysis. ! 'ey piece of the %raft, some say the heart of it. The point where collections and analysis meet. /i'e basic training only more boring. ! positioned agent, too valuable to use until a high value event re+uires that he be activated. $ith luc', he gets so valuable, he is never used, but his Swiss Ban' !ccount grows and grows and@ ! man who is much smarter than he loo's. #e&s schooling you all the time you thought you were doing him. ,rom Cohn /e%arre&s George Smiley. (ever screw with a Smiley. If a man loo's too dumb to reproduce, first chec' his Smiley +uotient. $hat you say when you&ve come bac' form the customer announcing that you&ve convinced the clown to fund your latest demented idea. Someone who provides you with information. !nyone who has ever tal'ed to an intelligence agent is considered a source. !n agent who says, :I have a source in the $hite #ouse,? can mean anything from having once been told to move on by the guard at the gate to screwing the 1resident&s wife. Source is an interesting but meaningless phrase. *eliable source is nicer. !lways as' the agent why he thin's the source is reliable. This will give you time to read your newspaper while he thin's up an answer. Every %- has to have a plan to find sources. Every source should have a development plan attached to him. %-s, li'e salesman, hate this, but it&s the %raft.

Source00burnt Source00 doubled Source0tripled Source0 +uardrupled Spoofing

S+uee.e a source

Station %hief

Surveillance

Swallow

Swapping spit Target

Target

! source that was blown in the process of being used. Every source gets burnt. The %raft is in the how and when. They&re all dead men boysJ ma'e Nem count. ! source you thin' is wor'ing for you that is really wor'ing for someone else ! source who you 'now is wor'ing for you even though the other side thin's they&ve doubled him ! source who you thin' is wor'ing for you who is actually wor'ing for the other side, even though you 'new he was wor'ing for the other side@. Too fuc'ed up to thin' about. Shoot the bastard and start over again. 1roviding e tremely credible information that contains a 'ernel of error that will lead the recipient in catastrophic directions. -ne of the real pleasures of the intelligence professional. !s in :I spoofed his ass good. #e bought the whole shit and about a year later, I rolled up his ass.? !ll sources need to be s+uee.ed. The means of s+uee.ing the source is ma'ing threats. Showing E < glossies of certain unfortunate incidents to his wife is one way to s+uee.e him. ! %ase -fficer must always have the means for s+uee.ing a source. The head of operations in a given country. !lways operates in0country, usually on the Embassy staff. *ussian e+uivalent is :*esiden.ia.? *ussian *esiden.ia in "% usually is a limo driver with the embassy. !merican is usually a cultural attach3 or something. 2ore powerful than the ambassador The %raft of trac'ing the movements of an individual to find out what he&s doing. Gery inefficient, very pointless, usually leading to long waits outside his house or office, and a trip to A02art. Good way to increase your customer&s bill. ,rom the Soviets. ! young lady 4or gentleman5 of a certain level of attractiveness whose 7ob it is to entertain potential sources while artistic photographs are ta'en. 2a'e sure that the target gives a shit what his wife thin's. -therwise, you&ve 7ust given the S-B a night to remember and nothing else. 2a'ing a deal for information. I&ll give you intel in Gene.uela if you lend me your sources in (igeria. /et&s swap spit. The intelligence that is being pursued. If there is no clear target, you aren&t ready for the op. The target must not only be defined, but it must be realistic. ,iguring out whether the target is doable is %raft. #ow hard it is to get the information that is re+uired.

#ardness TargetDSoft TargetDhard Target00 hardened

Target00reactive

Targeting the Oone Test

Tiers

Time sharing Trail your coat

True0believer

!n easy shot. The library or a drun'en congressman loo'ing to get laid. ! tough target. ! thirty year veteran of Israeli intelligence who has gone totally paranoid ! really tough target. Someone who e pected an operation to come after the information. They&ve built protection systems. ! scientist who is under constant surveillance, for e ample. *eal nasty if you&re briefed that it&s a soft target and it turns out to be hardened. Error fre+uently results in *igorous Interrogation000for you. -y. This target is waiting for you and is ready to react. 6ou go to a 2oscow par' to pic' up a pac'age. 6ou get the pac'age and all the nice people with strollers open fire on you. Gery bad. Usually leads to a board and a funeral. Stratfor term. ,iguring out where the %enter of Gravity is li'ely to be defined in terms of .ones of information. Aeeping it as near the electronic as possible is critical for cost0effective ops. 2ethod for determining sources credibility. ,or e ample, you arrange for someone to feed the source something that you&ve made up. If he gives you the information, he&s passed the test. If you read it in the (ew 6or' Times the ne t day, he hasn&t. 1art of the 1ortfolio !udit. "ifferent levels assigned areas of interest. Usually ranges from Tier > 4al Paeda5 to Tier E 4Tuvalu5. Tiering is the responsibility of politicalBmar'eting managers not analysts. There is no !-I without a Tier, and no !-* unless there is a Tier designation. Two organi.ations operating the same source. (asty. /oo'ing to identify potential sources or enemy agents, you :trail your coat? in some appropriate way, hoping to pic' up some action. It can be hanging around a bar in "% where %ongressional staffers drin', or putting out an article on Stratfor with a slight error, something that only someone in a 'ey position would recogni.e, and hoping that he can&t resist the opportunity to :grab hold of your coat.? ! source who absolutely believes in something whether it is saving whales or the Aoran. Usually completely whac'ed out but sometimes useful. !lways remember to agree with whatever insanity he is peddling.

Turned Getting $al'ing Bac' the %at $ants to 'now everything about@ $ar $agon $-G

!n operative that turns on you. 6ou are usually the one blamed while he rela es in lovely downtown *iga 4old days5, beautiful suburban *iyadh 4new days5 Evaluation of the reliability of an individual, either wor'ing for you or a source. Aey part of the %raft. $ho 'nows8 Effort to determine what went wrong in an operation. $al'ing bac' a cat is li'e herding them, only harder. Intelligence organi.ations worst nightmare. Guaranteed failure. (o one can 'now when they 'now everything. (o one can 'now everything period. "isastrous basis for an operation. If it&s in the op order, run. ,ollow car on protective details that carries the shoulder weapons and counter0assault or %!T team. If the $ar $agon is needed, intelligence has failed. $ise -ld Gentleman) #ad a great success 9> years ago. #asn&t done shit since then e cept for reminiscing about his one success. Too smart to go into the field so he can&t be 'illed. #ope for a heart attac'.