KEY INTELLIGENCE QUESTIONS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP86B00269R001400060001-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: January 4, 2017
• Document Release Date: March 23, 2006
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: March 9, 1977
• Content Type: MF

Approved For Release 2008/03/03: CIA-RDP86B00269R001400060001-5
Exc nve F r &y
9 March 1977
MEMORANDUM FOR: Admiral Turner
.FROM : Deputy to the DCI for National Intelligence
SUBJECT : Key Intelligence Questions
1. The President's remarks this afternoon suggest that he
does not fully understand the purpose of the KIQs. They do not
represent our priorities, which are embodied in DCID 1/2, but
rather those subjects of high priority upon which Community
attention needs to be focused in the short run.
2. Had we had time to complete the scheduled program, I
would have said:
National Intelligence is both the end and
the beginning of the work that we have described
to you today. It is the end because it is the
summation of all of our work in the estimates
and assessments that underpin national policy-
making at the NSC level. It is the beginning
because after each estimate is completed we
review it to identify the most critical gaps
and weaknesses in our information. We then
devise a strategy for collection and analysis
that will enable us to prepare a better estimate
the next time it is called for. The KIQs serve
to notify the Community that we consider these
the most important gaps and weaknesses. They
do not represent our overall priorities.
3? people have seen this and concur.
NSC review(s) completed.
CONFIDENTIAL
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(cob/' r:'
MEMORANDUM FOR:
25X1 FROM:
SUBJECT:
Admiral Stansfield Turner, USN
Director of Central Intelligence
Deputy to the DCI for the Intelligence Community.
Key Intelligence Questions
. 1. This afternoon, the President expressed concern for the adequacy of
the Intelligence Community's ability to identify the principal intelligence
problems facing national decision makers. Specifically, he criticized the
DCI 3:e Intell i once Questions for FY 1977 (KIQ).
..2.. The KIQ's are not intended to identify the highest priority intel-
ligence questions, nor do they serve as a comprehensive list of topical
issues. Those are expressed in another document, the attachment to DCI
Directive 1/2, currently under revision. The KIQ's are highly selective,
current critical questions for special operational attention. The deliberate
restriction of the list to less than a score of questions necessitates that
key problems currently receiving substantial attention or which do not lend
themselves to Community action beyond that already under way, be omitted.
3. You may be interested in the attached correlation table of KIQ and
current PRM topics. The table indicates that the lists are not very dis-
imilar, hence the selection of KIQ's generally approximates the selection
of policy issues for ?CSC review.
{i. For some time members of the Community have expressed dissatisfaction
-with the "KIQ" title, believing it a bit of a misnomer. Other titles have been
suggested, such-as "salient questions," which may be' more suitable. We cur-.;.
have this under review in the ad hoc interagency group on priorities.
We will be coming forth with recommendations in the near, future.
25X1- 5.. is prepared to brief you on the entire Planning System,
of which the KIQ's are a part. I believe that the briefing is quite important
to a full understanding of the matter and would be of considerable value to you
before you meet with the President again.
F~ ~i~ctf
Attachment
As stated
J y~ ,tL ~i1.
Approved For Release 2008/03/03: CIA-RDP86B00269R001400060001-5
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Approved For Release 2008/03/03: CIA-RDP86B00269R001400060001-5