Talking Deep And Talking Straight Summary

The problems faced by modern intelligence services are inherent to their composition and methods of operation. According to Douglas Hart and Steven Simon, authors of ‘Thinking Straight and Talking Straight: Problems of Intelligence Analysis', such problems include issues with recruitment of personnel, intensely bureaucratic structures, and lack of collaboration between agencies and between other intelligence professionals. This work will consider the above points from the perspective of several other works, and will add novel perspectives to selected issues.
According to Simon and Hart, the intelligence community is faced with the need to recruit personnel from a pool that is ill-equipped to deal with challenges posed by the current international environment. They identify the deficiencies within the recruitment pool primarily as a complete lack of critical-thinking abilities. Colonel Andrew Smith has commented on new recruits as well, however from a completely opposite perspective. The Colonel argues that it is practical and acceptable to have fixed "countermeasures" and counter-terrorism models to particular terrorist actions.
They cite numerous reports that consider a lack of cooperation as one of the reasons for intelligence failures. I do not entirely agree with that conclusion. For one, the reports cited in their work refer back to 2001 after the September 11 terrorist attack.
Granted that intelligence failures were a primary reason for the attacks' successfulness, however, much has changed since. In 2004 Dennis Richardson wrote that in Australia Commonwealth and State leaders, as well as members from Australian Secret Intelligence Organisation and law enforcement organisations were meeting on a regular basis to set national guidelines and structures to combating