CRITERIA FOR DETERMINING PRIORITY NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE OBJECTIVES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP61-00549R000100100022-0
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: November 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 13, 1999
• Sequence Number: 22
• Publication Date: November 30, 1954
• Content Type: REPORT

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APPENDIX C TO IAC-D-50/3 (30 November 1954)
CRITERIA FOR DETERMINING PRIORITY NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE
OBJECTIVES
1, Priority national intelligence objectives should be
directly related to the intelligence required in the formulation
and execution of national security policy. NSC 162/2, paragraph
10a (which is reproduced in IAC-D-55/7 ftina; 7) page 1), provides
general guidance in this respect. More specific guidance can be
obtained by analysis of the basic policy objectives set forth in
NSC 162/2 and in other NSC documents, and by direct consultation
with the NSC Planning Board.
2. Most of the intelligence required in the formulation
and execution of national security policy will be the product of
normal intelligence collection and rosoarch. Priority national
intelligence objectives should be lk..ited to those critical
factors which require special attention and effort.
3. In order to afford a stable basis for intelligence planning,
a statement of priority national intelligence objectives should be
designed to remain valid over an extended period. It should
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therefore exclude topics of urgent current, but transitory,
interest, which will require and receive ad hoc treatment in any
case,
4. Broad generalities are of little practical use as priority
guidance to collection and research. Priority intelligence
objectives should therefore be reasonably specific. On the other
hand, it must be recognized that such objectives cannot serve
as specific collection requirements. The translation of priority
national intelligence objectives into specific information ro-
quirements requires further analysis by research personnel; the
translation of specific information requirements into specific
tasks of collection requires further analysis by collection per-
sonnel.
5. By definition, all items in a statement of priority
national intelligence objectives should be worthy of special
attention, but it is obvious that some will be of greater urgency
or importance than others. Some means of indicating Priority
within the general Priority category is therefore necessary,
but care must be exercised lost the system adopted should, in
actu'.l effect, deny priority to a high priority objective. For
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example, a highly schematic arrangement based on country priorities
would have the effect of giving a low priority topic relating; to
a first priority country a higher priority than a first priority
tonic relating to a lower priority country? which might well not
represent their true order of importance, This difficulty can be
avoided by recognizing levels of priority within the general priority
category, with topics relating to a particular country entered at any
appropriate level, a,s in Appendix D. This system would require the
maximum exercise of judgment in relation to each item, but neverthe-
less, for the reason given, is preferable to any rigidly schematic
system based, in the first instance, on country priorities;
6. Recapitulation: Priority national intelligence objectives
should be:
a. Directly related to the intelligence required in
the formulation and execution of national security
policy.
b. Limited to pressing substantive intelligence problems.
c. Designed to remain valid over an extended period.
d. Expressed in reasonably specific terms (but not
as a final formulation of specific collection
requirements),
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e. Stated in such a way as to indicate broad levels of
priority within the general priority category (but
not in so rigidly schematic a manner as to distort
the relative priority of specific objectives).
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