The Oxymoron That is Donald Trump and Intelligence
Most countries have intelligence agencies. They collect information on other countries in order to protect their own national interests. Just as a savvy investor gathers and considers data and information on companies and the markets before making strategic business decisions, national political leaders do the same in relation to other countries. Leaders who dismiss intelligence facts and analyses do so at their own peril.
After World War I, the State Department set up a “Cipher Bureau.” It was the United States’ first code-breaking agency, a forerunner of today’s National Security Agency. This “Black Chamber,” as it was called informally, had some extraordinary successes. Among them was having broken Japan’s official communications code. The intelligence gleaned from Japanese government intercepts gave Washington invaluable insights on Tokyo’s naval plans. Armed with this intelligence, American negotiators succeeded in getting Japan to reduce its naval ship building program in the 1920’s.
Secretary of State Henry Stimson, however, shut down the Cipher Bureau in 1929, stating naively that “Gentlemen do not read each others' mail.” It was one of the biggest blunders in American national security policy. While the government subsequently revived signals and communications intelligence activities and broke the Japanese naval code during World War II, other flaws in America’s indications and warning system prevented us from either anticipating or effectively countering Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941.
Years later, another president’s lack of attention to key intelligence resulted in an enemy attack resulting in greater casualties than at Pearl Harbor. President George W. Bush and his National Security Advisor, Condoleeza Rice, ignored warnings from intelligence agencies of an imminent al-Qaeda attack against the United States. In June 2001, the CIA warned the White House that Qaeda strikes inside the U.S. could be “imminent.” The August 6, 2001 Presidential Daily Briefing warned, “Bin Ladin Determined To Strike in U.S.” The report even stated that terrorists could attack the homeland using hijacked aircraft. America and the world paid a heavy price for the White House’s failure to heed this key intelligence.
President-elect Trump has declined daily intelligence briefings, stating, “I'm, like, a smart person. I don't have to be told the same thing in the same words every single day for the next eight years...I don't need that.” For his part, President Obama commented, “It doesn't matter how smart you are. You have to have the best information possible to make the best decisions possible.” He added, “Without them (briefings), you’re flying blind.”
When he assumes office in January, President Donald Trump jeopardizes the security of the nation if he continues to insist on “flying blind.”