Enable breadcrumbs token at /includes/pageheader.html.twig

Immaculate Collection Hindering Intelligence Capabilities

Expectations of perfectly clean intelligence operations are endangering national security.

Demands that the intelligence community pursue operations that are absent any controversy are putting the nation at risk, warned the U.S. director of national intelligence (DNI). James R. Clapper described how a “perfect storm” of document leaks and budget cuts have led to a loss of trust with allies and partners and forced decisions to stop intelligence collection on some targets.

Addressing the opening plenary session at the AFCEA/INSA Intelligence and National Security Summit 2014, being held September 18-19 in Washington, D.C., Clapper warned that these recent events have led to a nation taking more risk with its security.“We are expected to keep the nation safe by collecting intelligence in such a manner as there is no risk and no embarrassment to anyone if that is revealed, no threat to anyone’s bottom line,” he said. “We call that ‘immaculate collection.’”

Clapper emphasized that ethics is a strong element in the intelligence community, offering that the intelligence community “spends more time focused on understanding the laws that govern our work than any other sector. We’ve made mistakes, but not deliberately.”