Since September 11, 2001, the CIA and DoD have operated together in Afghanistan, Iraq, and during counterterrorism operations. Although the global war on terrorism gave the CIA and DoD a common purpose, it was actions taken in the late eighties and early nineties that set the foundation for their current relationship. Driven by the post–Cold War environment and lessons learned during military operations, policy makers made intelligence support to the military the Intelligence Community’s top priority. In response to this demand, the CIA/DoD instituted policy and organizational changes that altered the CIA/DoD relationship. While debates over the future of the Intelligence Community were occurring on Capitol Hill, the CIA and DoD were expanding their relationship in peacekeeping and nation-building operations in Somalia and the Balkans.
By the late 1990s, some policy makers and national security professionals became concerned that intelligence support to military operations had gone too far, weakening the long-term analysis required for strategy and policy development. In Subordinating Intelligence: The DoD/CIA Post–Cold War Relationship, David P. Oakley reveals that, despite these concerns, no major changes to either national intelligence organization or its priorities were implemented. These concerns were forgotten after 9/11, as the United States fought two wars and policy makers increasingly focused on tactical and operational actions. As policy makers became fixated with terrorism and the United States fought in Iraq and Afghanistan, the CIA directed a significant amount of its resources toward global counterterrorism efforts and in support of military operations.
David P. Oakley is an army officer and former CIA officer who currently serves as an assistant professor at the National Defense University’s College of International Security Affairs.
A first-time unique insight into an unseen history and evolution of the collaboration between two of the most critical national security agencies of the US government: the CIA and the DoD. Written not by an observer or reader, but by an intelligence professional who, in Iraq, experienced personally the complicated relationship between CIA and DoD, this book should be read by all serious national security students and professionals. -- Douglas H. Wise, retired senior CIA operations officer and deputy director of the Defense Intelligence Agency
This book is undoubtedly the most comprehensive treatment to date of the history of coordination and operational cooperation between the Department of Defense and the intelligence community of the United States, especially the Central Intelligence Agency. This is a thorough and balanced study of this issue, collecting in one work the key developments of recent years. -- David Edger, senior fellow at the University of Oklahoma’s Center for Intelligence and National Security and former CIA associate deputy director of the Directorate of Operations
David Oakley has compiled a compelling and informative assessment of the history of the CIA and DoD during a critical time of US history. His attention to detail and rigorous exploitation of source material provide for a rich and unrivaled account that should be included on the reading lists of scholars and practitioners alike. Though historical in focus, the subject matter could not be more relevant for today’s times.
- David H. Ucko, author of The New Counterinsurgency Era: Transforming the US Military for Modern Wars