PROVIDING COPIES OF THE FY 1989 NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE TOPICS (NITS) TO THE CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT COMMITTEES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90G01353R000400460001-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 39
• Document Creation Date: December 23, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 27, 2013
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: October 14, 1988
• Content Type: MEMO

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ROUTING AND RECORD SHEET
SUBJECT: (Optional)
Providing Copies of the FY 1989 National Intelligence Topics (NITs)
to the Congressional Oversight Committees
FROM.
EXTENSION
NO.
Chief, Intelligence Producers
Council Staff (IPCS)10V',
DATE
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TO: (Officer designation, room number, and
building)
DATE
OFFICER'S
COMMENTS (Number each comment to show from whom
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RECEIVED FORWARDED
INITIALS
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pIRECTOR OF CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE
Intelligence Producers Council
Washington, D.C. 20505
IPC 7588/88
14 October 1988
MEMORANDUM FOR: Director of Central Intelligence
VIA: Deputy Director of Central Intelligence
Chairman, Intelligence Producers Council (IPC)
FROM:
Chief, Intelligence Producers Council Staff (IPCS)
SUBJECT: Providing Copies of the FY 1989 National Intelligence
Topics (NITs) to the Congressional Oversight Committees
1. Action Requested: That you sign the attached letters forwarding the
US Policymakers' National Intelligence Topics (NITs), FY 1989 to the chairmen
of the intelligence oversight committees of the Congress
2. Background: At the 8 September 1988 meeting of the Committee on
Requirements and Priorities, Senior Interagency Group-Intelligence, DDCI Gates
approved the Intelligence Producers Council recommendation of sending copies
of the FY 1989 NITs to the Congressional intelligence oversight committees.
In the past, the NITs have been provided to the Chairmen of the Senate and
House intelligence oversight committees.
3. Recommendation: That you sign the transmittal letters to Senator
Boren and Congressman Stokes at Tabs A and B respectively.
Attachments:
A. Ltr. to Senator Boren (w/Cy #683 of NITs)
B. Ltr. to Congressman Stokes (w/Cy #684 of NITs)
CONFIDENTIAL
CL BY: Signer
DECL: OADR
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IPC 7588/88
SUBJECT: Providing Copies of the FY 1989 National Intelligence Topics
(NITs) to the Congressional Oversight Committees
Distribution:
Orig - addressee
1 - DDCI
1 - Exec Registry
1 - Chairman/IPC
1 - DDI/CIA Registry
1 - 0/OCA/CIA
1 - D/ICS; DD/ICS; DDR&E
1 - LL/ICS
1 - IPC Subject File
1 - IPC Chrono File
1 - ICS Registry
IPC/
(14 Oct 88) 25X1
-2-
CONFIDENTIAL
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The Director of Central Intelligence
Washington, D.C. 20505
01 NOV 1988
The Honorable David L. Boren, Chairman
Select Committee on Intelligence
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510
Dear Mr. Chairman:
Enclosed for your information is the FY 1989 edition of US Policymakers'
National Intelligence Topics (NITs) which has just been published. The NITs
document represents the most authoritative statement of critical intelligence
needs of senior US policymakers. The Intelligence Community uses this
document as guidance in formulating requirements, setting priorities, and
planning finished intelligence production. Moreover, the NITs take on even
greater importance as a tool for focusing resources more efficiently.
If intelligence is to do its job well, constant interaction between the
policymaking and intelligence-producibg communities is critical. The NITs are
unique in the Intelligence Community because they are formulated by the
policymakers, thereby providing a vehicle for the policymaking community to
directly influence intelligence production. I believe this year's NITs are
especially relevant because of more active participation by the policymaking
community. These improvements are only a small part of a greater effort on
our part to be more responsive to consumer needs by bringing greater
rationality to the' top-level requirements and evaluation structure.
This same letter with enclosure is being sent to Chairman Stokes of the
House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
Enclosure
Sincerely yours,
William I-1. Webster
William H. Webster
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The Director of Central Intelligence
Washington, D.C. 20505
07 NOV 1988
The Honorable Louis Stokes, Chairman
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Mr. Chairman:
Enclosed for your information is the FY 1989 edition of US Policymakers'
National Intelligence Topics (NITs) which has just been published. The NITs
document represents the most authoritative statement of critical intelligence
needs of senior US policymakers. The Intelligence Community uses this
document as guidance in formulating requirements, setting priorities, and
planning finished intelligence production. Moreover, the NITs take on even
greater importance as a tool for focusing resources more efficiently.
If intelligence is to do its job well, constant interaction between the
policymaking and intelligence-producing communities is critical. The NITs are
unique in the Intelligence Community because they are formulated by the
policymakers, thereby providing a vehicle for the policymaking community to
directly influence intelligence production. I believe this year's NITs are
especially relevant because of more active participation by the policymaking
community. These improvements are only a small part of a greater effort on
our part to be more responsive to consumer needs by bringing greater
rationality to the top-level requirements and evaluation structure.
This same letter with enclosure is being sent to Chairman Boren of the
Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.
Enclosure
Sincerely yours,
Is/ William H. Webster
William H. Webster
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SENIOR INTERAGENCY GROUP (INTELLIGENCE)
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20505
ICS 88-3351
26 September 1988
MEMORANDUM FOR: ?SIG-I Committee on Requirements and Priorities
FROM:
Executive secretary
SUBJECT: Minutes of SIG-I Committee Meeting on 8 September 1988,
1500 Hours
Summary of Decisions
The Chairman, Deputy Director of Central Intelligence Gates, with the
concurrence of the Committee principals, approved US Policymakers' National
Intelligence Topics for 1989, subject to changes proposed by the National
Security Council Staff to the NIT on Third World Insurgencies, and directed
that it be provided to rthe Intelligence Oversight Committees of Congress.
Minutes of the Meeting
The Chairman, Deputy Director of Central Intelligence Gates, convening the
meeting, noted the unfortunate circumstance that the Committee last met in
October 1986. He observed that it has been his experience over the years that
one of the Intelligence Community's most difficult tasks is to get
policymakers to focus on what their requirements are. He recalled that,
during the Carter administration, then DCI Turner had wanted to hold .a Policy
Review Committee meeting on requirements, but had refused to convene it until
all the policymaking principals would be in attendance. After four months of
trying, he realized his goal was unattainable, as National Security Advisor
Brzezinski had warned.
The Chairman then noted that a number of changes have been made to improve
the previous environment in which a number of sets of requirements appeared to
exist, the relevance of one set to another was not always clear, and the
relationship between requirements, resource allocation, and intelligence
production was uncertain. The Intelligence Community Staff has been
restructured by adding a Deputy Director for Requirements and
Evaluation--currently, --and by creating a new office to support
him, both for the purposes of bringing a greater coherence to the requirements
process and for tying it better to resource decisions. Those officers are now
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in place and have playpd a key role over the past months. The Intelligence
Producers Council has also been an important element in bringing a greater
rationality to the processes. The NITs are the most authoritative statement
of the policymaking community's requirements, and they will become all the
more important for allocating intelligence resources as we enter a period of
resource stringency.-
Concluding, the Chairman hoped above all that the Community will be able
to answer policymakers' questions better. He understands that senior
intelligence officials are in agreement with the document before the Committee
and that policymakers have spent considerable time on refining and improving
it, for which he thanked the Committee members and the IPC Staff. He then
invited Chairrian of the IPC, to take the floor.
judged that the process of arriving at the NITs has been
improved and tnat there was a better response from policymakers this year. As
for the question of what the Intelligence Community does with the NITs, it is
instructive that over 2,500 finished intelligence products were produced
during the past year that responded to NITs. Many of these products would, no
doubt, have been produced without the NITs, but comparing production to the
NITs allows us to test ourselves on the relevance of our products. We have a
way to go in this regard, and he intends that the IPC be more aggressive in
the future. The NITs, for example, will be coming out this year at the same
time that the Central Intelligence Agency and the Defense Intelligence Agency
publish their analytical production programs, which means that the NITs are
not informing the research planning process. One of his goals for next year
is to produce the NITs three months earlier.
urned the floor over t4 IChief of the IPC
Sta , w o reported that, in pursuit of the r a iza ion of the process
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in any year since 1985, and they will be produced even earlier next year ?in
time to help shape production agenda.
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tt
)bserved that he has, been concerned about certain
misperceptions which the Intelligence Community and policymakers have about
the NITs. Some within the Intelligence Community perceive the NITs as nothing
more than a catalogue, one that is growing out of control. This is certainly
not the case. The growth and diversity of recent NITs are only a reflection
of the growth in the number of users of intelliqence in the policymaking
community and their specific needs. referred the principals to a
set of four graphics illustrating his point. In 1982, for example, we
identified a body of 153 top policymakers using our products. Today, that
number has more than doubled to about 328. The types of issues of concern to
policymakers are more diverse; topics such as the Strategic Defense
Initiative, AIDS, treaty monitoring, mobile missiles, and narcotics were
scarcely heard of a decade ago.
stated that he would like to dispel also the policymaking
COMMuniv s mislierception that the NITs have little impact of intelligence
production. He referencedreport of 2,500 NIT-related
finished intelligence products in FY?T9B-/?ranging from typescript memoranda
to National Intelligence Estimates. For the first six months of this year,
over 1,000 reports have been ublished in response to current NITs; the
Community is responding.
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To iwprove the NITs document, two significant changes have been made. One
was the establishment of a NITs Working Group, consisting of representatives
of the agencies represented on the Committee. The Group met for the first
time this summer to develop, review, and coordinate the NITs, and this review
resulted in an improved document. This forum will be used throughout the year
to improve producer-Consumer cooperation in a number of areas of common
interest.
The second change, continued, is the name of the document.
Many within the policy community felt there was nothing unique about the NITs
document to distinguish it from any other intelligence document. Its title
now has "policymaker" in it. The principals should also be aware that the IPC
discussed and reviewed the document last Tuesday and endorsed it.
25X1 Concluding, Rnoted that the principals have before them a last-
minute change proposed by the National Security Council Staff to the NIT on
Third World Insurgencies. He recommended that the principals approve the NITs
with the NSC Staff's proposed change and that the document be provided by the
Director of Central Intelligence to the Congressional Intelligence Oversight
Committees, as was done in 1986.
At the Chairman's invitation, Mr. Hawkins, representing the Department of
Defense, reported that his organization has had a good deal of discussion with
the IPC Staff on the NITs during this year and last and concurs with the
document. Defense is not totally happy with it, primarily because of its
size, some 69 pages of requirements. , He hoped that over time the document
will be distilled to provide Defense with a shorter document that will have
greater focus. DoD is grateful for the changes that have been made this year
and endorses getting an earlier start next year.
Mr. Kelly, representing the NSC Staff, characterized the document as a
fine one, but shared DoD's concern over the serious growth in the number of
NITs and the need to tie them better to the schedule of production programs.
He then asked whether the NITs provide guidance also for the Compendium of
25X1 Future Intelligence Requirements (COFIR). mesponded that they do
not guide the COFIR directly. But, of the some 2,000 copies of the NITs
document that are distributed, some go to those concerned with producing US
Foreign Intelligence Requirements and Priorities for use by intelligence
collectors and producers.
Mr. Negus, representing the Joint Chiefs of Staff, concurred with the
document. He reported that DIA uses it as a sanity-check when composing its
research program, and military attaches and other military intelligence
collectors use it as a reference work. But the fact is that 2,490 of the
2,500 NIT-related products referred to earlier would have been produced
without the NITs as a result of the constant conversation that takes place
between intelligence producers and policymakers. The NITs codify the results
of that discussion; he does not wish to minimize its Utility for such
purpose.
Mr. Kamman, representing the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and
Research, reported that he has recently had the occasion to explain the
intelligence priorities-setting process to policymakers. Some seem to believe
that the process largely involves budgets and resources, but not to understand
that the Department of State's requirements for intelligence necessarily
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compete with the demands of other policy agencies. He has tried to make the
points that the existence of the NITs is valuable to balance competing demands
and that, if policymakers at State wish their preferences to be reflected in
the NITs and elsewhere, they must let INR know what their views are. The
document, on the other hand, is too voluminous to be of much use to StatA
Department collectors of information. Referring to one of
graphics, he noted the sharp dip in 1983 in the number of NITs selected and
asked whether it reflected an effort to cut back their number?
responded that the dip was solely the result of a change in
the NITs art-form. And once it had been made, policymakers had criticized the
NITs for not being specific enough. For this year's edition, policymakers
were consulted early on and, by and large, consider it good.
Mr. Darby, representing the Treasury Department, expressed his
organization's pleasure with the document, which, he observed, obviously
involved a lot of work and numerous compromises.
Mr. Walsh, representing the Department of Energy, reported that his
organization had not been as active a player as most in the NITs process until
the Working Group was formed this year. Energy is satisfied that the views of
its representative on the Group are reflected satisfactorily and that the
document is appropriate to its purposes.
Mr. Brumley, representing the Commerce Department, congratulated the IPC
and its Staff for their work. He noted that 34 percent of the NITs directly
reflect the Commerce Department's interests, and 18 percent do so indirectly,
which gives Commerce considerable satisfaction. added that the
IPC Staff is currently conducting an intelligence consumers survey and that a
number of early respondents--and, specifically, the Secretary of
Commerce--have said that the NITs are useful.
The Chairman observed that, vis-a-vis the world of requirements, the
relationship between the intelligence and policy communities has experienced
many problems over the years. Policymakers tend to believe that Intelligence
is off working its own agenda, while Intelligence tends to believe that
policymakers avoid thinking through what they want from the Intelligence
Community. There is no doubt, in his view, that the quality of intelligence
directly reflects the degree of effort policymakers put into making the
process work. He agreed with Mr. Negus that, if the process is working right,
NITs are primarily a codification of what the Community is already doing. If
the NITs come as a surprise, then the dialogue between Intelligence and
policymakers is insufficient.
The 1983 dip in the number of NITs, the Chairman continued, in part
reflected his belief at the time that the list of NITs was too long and its
specificity too deep. He preferred instead generalizing the NITs into broad
issues relevant to intelligence collection and requiring very sober
coordination. Because of the felicitous intelligence resource situation of
recent years, the Community has been in a position to accept virtually all
requirements levied on it. But now that we are running into a resource
problem, we will have to decide what we can and can not do.
4
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Concluding, the Chairman reported that, as a vehicle for improving the
intelligence-policy dialogue, he plans to make the Committee on Requirements
and Priorities more active. He is satisfied with the NITs document before the
Committee and that the dialogue with consumers is essentially healthy. But he
hoped the principals will take the message back to their organizations that
constant interaction iscritical, if intelligence is to do its job. He then
thanked the principals for the time their aapncies dew) ed to producing the
NITs, approved the document, instructed to see to its
publication, and approved its being proviaea to tne intelligence Oversight
Committees.
Mr. Walsh referred to the coming change of administrations and judged that
it would be advantageous for the Community to orchestrate a program for
orienting incoming policymakers on the intelligence process and issues. If
the Community does not, these policymakers will attempt to use the process
inappropriately and ineffectively.
The Chairman hoped that, when the time comes in February and March, senior
Community officials will be aggressive in doing missionary work. The DCI and
he are prepared to invest a substantial amount of their time to it, and he
expects others to sit down with the new policymakers to explain how the
intelligence process works. It is important that they understand that
Intelligence is not the practitioner of some black art, but rather a
considerable asset to be used. The Community, per se, has never done
missionary work before, and, even when CIA has attempted it, CIA could have
done a better job. Orientation pamphlets and videos are not sufficient to the
task; it is necessary to go in and talk personally with the policymakers.
Mr. Negus seconded the Chairman's views. The discussion having ended, and
there being no further business before the Committee, the Chairman adjourned
the meeting.
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SIG-I MEETING
8 September 1988 - 1500 Hours
Committee on Requirements and Priorities
National Intelligence Topics
Attendees: Robert M. Gates, DDCI, Chairman
NSC Barry Kelly
Mary Henhoeffer
State Curtis Kamman
Defense Charles A. Hawkins, Jr.
Treasury Michael R. Darby
Randall M. Fort
Commerce Robert Brumley
Christine Crosby
Energy Robert J. Walsh
JCS Gordon Negus
Major Stephen Simpson, USA
IPC
ICS
IPC Staff
6
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SUBJECT: Minutes of SIG-I Committee Meeting on 8 September 1988,
1500 Hours
Distribution: ICS-33-3351
1 - Deputy Assistant to the President
for National Security Affairs (Attn: Mr. D. Barry Kelly)
2 - Under Secretary of State (Attn: Mr. Russell Ingraham)
3 - Under Secretary of Defense (Attn: Mr. Charles A. Hawkins, Jr.)
4 - Under Secretary of Treasury (Attn: Mr. Randall M. Fort)
5 - Under Secretary of Commerce (Attn: Mr. Kim FitzGerald)
6 - Under Secretary of Energy (Mr. Robert J. Walsh)
7 - Senior Representative of the Chairman,
Joint Chiefs of Staff (Attn: VADM Howe)
8 - Director, Intelligence Community Staff
9 - DDCI
10 - ADDI/CIA
11 - IPC Staff
12 - Executive Registry
13 - ES/SIG-I
14 - SIG-I Chrono
15 - SIG-I Subject
16 - ICS Registry
ES/SIG-I:
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ROUTING AND RECORD SHEET
...
SUBJECT: (Optional)
Draft Minutes of SIG-I Committee Meeting on 8V Sept 88, 1500 Hours
FROM: Executive Secretary, SIG-I
EXTENSION
NO.
ICS-88-3347
DATE
9 Sept 88
TO: (Officer designation, room number, and
building)
DATE
OFFICERS
INITIALS
COMMENTS (Number each comment to show From whom
to whom. Draw a linis across column after each comment.)
RECEIVED
FORWARDED
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Executive Registry
1 2 SEP
1988
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INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY STAFF
NOTE FOR THE DDCI
z7,76- ?
9 September 1988
would like your permission to
circulate copies of the attached minutes, once
you have reviewed them, to the members of his
Ad Hoc DDR&E Steering Group. He apparently
wants them to understand how serious you are
about giving greater coherence to the
requirements-to-resources process.
ES/SIG-I
Attachment:
Draft Minutes
APPROVED: Is/ G
DDCI
DISAPPROVED:
DDCI
DATE: I3 SEP lqaP
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SeNIOR INTERAGENCY GROUP (INTELLIGENCE)
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20505
ICS 88-3347
9 September 1988
MEMORANDUM FOR: SIG-I Committee on Requirements and Priorities
FROM:
Executive Secretary
SUBJECT: Draft Minutes of SIG-I Committee Meeting on
8 September 1988, 1500 Hours
1. The attached draft minutes are submitted for your personal review.
2. Unless you have provided your comments by noon on 23 September 1988,
or have requested more time for consideration, the Executive Secretary will
take you that you concur in the minutes as drafted.
Attachment:
Draft Minutes
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DRAFT Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee on Requirements and Priorities,
Senior Interagency Group - Intelligence, on 8 September 1988 at 1500 Hours
Summary of Decisions
The Chairman, Deputy Director of Central Intelligence Gates, with the
concurrence of the Committee principals, approved US Policymakers' National
Intelligence Topics for 1989, subject to changes proposed by the National
Security Council Staff to the NIT on Third World Insurgencies, and directed
that it be provided to the Intelligence Oversight Committees of Congress.
Minutes of the Meeting
The Chairman, Deputy Director of Central Intelligence Gates, convening the
meeting, not6d the unfortunate circumstance that the Committee last met in
October 1986. He observed that it has been his experience over the years that
one of the 'Intelligence Community's most difficult tasks is to get
policymakers to focus on what their requirements are. He recalled that,
during the Carter administration, then DCI Turner had wanted to hold a Policy
Review Committee meeting on requirements, but had refused to convene it until
all the policymaking principals would be in attendance. After four month of
trying, he realized his goal was unattainable, as National Security Advisor
Brzezinski had warned.
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The Chairman then noted that a number of changes have been made to attempt
to improve the previous environment in which a number of sets of requirements
appeared to exist, the relevance of one set to another was not always clear,
and the relationship between requirements and resource allocation and
intelligence production was uncertain. The Intelligence Community Staff has
been restructured by adding a Deputy Director for Requirements and Evaluation,
and creating a new office to support him, for the purposes of
bringing a greater coherence to the requirements process and for tying it
better to resource decisions. Those officers are now in place and have played
a key role over the past months. The Intelligence Producers Council has also
been an important element in bringing a greater rationality to the processes.
The NITs are the most authoritative statement of the policymaking community's
requirements, and they will become all the more important for allocating
intelligence resources as we enter a period of resource stringency.
Co cluding, the Chairman hoped above all that the Community will be able
to answer policymakers' questions better. He understands that senior
intelligence officials are in agreement with the document before the Committee
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it, for which he thanked the Committee members and the IPC Staff. He then
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invited
Chairman of the IPC, to take the floor.
udged that the process of arriving at the NITs has been
improved and that there was a better response from policymakers this year. As
for the question of what the Intelligence Community does with the NITs, it is
instructive that over 2,500 finished intelligence products were produced
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during the past year that respond to WITS. Many of these products would, no
doubt, have been produced without the NITs, but comparing production to the
NITs allows us to test ourselves on the relevance of our products. We have a
way to go in this regard, and he intends that the IPC be more aggressive in
the future. The NITs, for example, Will be coming out this year at the same
time that the Central Intelligence Agency and the Defense Intelligence Agency
publish their analytical production programs, which means that the NITs are
not informing the research planning process. One of his goals for next year
is to produce the NITs three months earlier.
turned the floor over to
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Chief of the IPC 25X1
Staff, who reported that, in pursuit of the revitalization of the process
mentioned by the Chairman, the NITs have been produced earlier this year than 25X1
in any year since 1985, and they will be produced even earlier next year in
time to help shape production agenda.
observed that he has been concerned about certain
misperceptions which the Intelligence Community and policymakers have about
the NITs. some within the Intelligence Community perceive the NITs as nothing
more than a catalogue, one that is growing out of control. This is certainly
not the case. The growth and diversity of recent NITs are only a reflection
of the growth in the number of users of intelligence in the policymaking
community and their specific needs.
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set of four graphics illustrating his point. In 1982, for example, we
identified a body of 153 top policymakers using our products. Today, that
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number has more than doubled to about 328. The types of issues of concern to
polcymakers are also more diverse; topics such as the Strategic Defense
Initiative, AIDS, treaty monitoring, mobile missiles, and narcotics were
scarcely heard of a decade ago.
stated that he would like to dispel also the policymaking
community's misperception that the NITs have little impact of intelligence
report of 2,500 NIT-related
production. He referencec
finished intelligence products in FY 1987--ranging from typescript memoranda
to National Intelligence Estimates. For the first six months of this year,
over 1,000 reports have been published in response to current NITs, so the
Community is responding.
To improve the NITs document, two significant changes have been made. One
was the establishment of a NITs Working Group, consisting of representatives
of the agencies represented on the Committee. The Group met for the first
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time this surdmer to develop, review, and coordinate the NITs, and this review
resulted in an improved document. This forum will be used throughout the year
to improve *producer-consumer cooperation in a number of areas of common
interest.
The second change,
continued, is the name of the document.
Many within the policy community felt there was nothing unique about the NITs
document to distinguish it from any other intelligence document. Its title
now has "policymaker" in it. The principals should also be aware that the IPC
discussed and reviewed the document last Tuesday and endorsed it.
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Concluding,
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noted that the principals have before them a last-
? minute change proposed by the National Security Council Staff to the NIT on
Third World Insurgencies. He recommended that the principals approve the NITs
with the NSC Staff's proposed change and that the document be provided by the
Director of Central Intelligence to the Congressional Intelligence Oversight
Committees, as was done in 1986.
At the Chairman's invitation, Mr. Hawkins, representing the Department of
Defense, reported that his organization has had a good deal of discussion with
the IPC Staff on the NITs during this year and last and concurs with the
document. Defense is not totally happy with it, primarily because of its
size, some 69 pages of requirements. He hoped that over time the document
will be distilled to provide Defense with a shorter document that will have
greater focus. DoD is grateful for the changes that have been made this year
and endorses getting an earlier start next year.
Mr. Kelly% representing the NSC Staff, characterized the document as a
fine one, but shared DoD's concern over the serious growth in the number of
NITs and the need to tie them better to the schedule of production programs.
He then asked whether the NITs provide guidance also for the Compendium of
Future Information Requirements (COFIR).
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not guide the COFIR directly. But, of the some 2,000 copies of the NITs
document that are distributed, some go to those concerned with producing US
Foreign Intelligence Requirements and Priorities for use by intelligence
collectors and producers.
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Mr. Negus, representing the Joint Chiefs of Staff, concurred with the
document. He reported that DIA uses it as a sanity-check when composing its
research program, and military attaches and other military intelligence
collectors use it as a reference work. But the fact is that 2,490 of the
2,500 NIT-related products referred to earlier would have been produced
without the NITs as a result of the constant conversation that takes place
between intelligence producers and policymakers. The NITs codify the results
of this discussion; he does not wish to minimize its utility for such
purpose.
Mr. Kamman, representing the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and
Research, reported that he has recently been deeply involved in explaining the
intelligence process to policymakers. Some seem to believe that the process
largely involves budgets and resources, but not to understand that INR must
compete for National Foreign Intelligence Program funds along with the
Community's other agencies. He has tried to make the points that the
existence of *the NITs is valuable for the process and that, if policymakers at
State wish their preferences to be reflected in the NITs and elsewhere, they
must let IN111 know what their views are. The document, on the other hand, is
too voluminous to be of much use to State Department collectors of
information. Referring to one of
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dip in 1983 in the number of NITs selected and asked whether it reflected an
effort to cut back their number?
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responded that the dip was solely the result of a change in
the NITs art form. And once it had been made, policymakers had criticized the
NITs for not being specific enough. For this year's edition, policymakers
were consulted early on and by and large consider it good.
Mr. Darby, representing the Treasury Department, expressed his
organization's pleasure with the document, which, he observed, obviously
involved a lot of work and numerous compromises.
Mr. Walsh, representing the Department of Energy, reported that his
organization had not been as active a player as most in the NITs process until
the Working Group was formed this year. Energy is satisfied that the views of
its representative on the Group are reflected satisfactorily and that the
document in appropriate to its purposes.
Mr. Brumley, representing the Commerce Department, congratulated the IPC
and its Staff for their work. He noted that 34 percent of the NITs directly
interests, and 18 percent do so indirectly,
reflect the Commerce Department's
which gives Commerce considerable
IPC Staff is currently conducting
number of early respondents--and,
Commerce--have said that the NITs
satisfaction.
added that the
an intelligence consumers survey and that a
specifically, the Secretary of
are useful.
The Chairman observed that, vis-a-vis the world of requirements, the
relationship between the intelligence and policy communities has experienced
many problems over the years. Policymakers tend to believe that intelligence
is off working its own agenda, while intelligence tends to believe
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policymakers avoid thinking through what they want from intelligence. There
is no doubt, in his view, that the quality of intelligence directly reflects
the degree of effort policymakers put into making the process work. He agreed
with Mr. Negus that, if the process 1Fsworking right, NITs are primarily a
codification of what the Community is already doing. If the NITs come as a
surprise, then the dialogue between intelligence and policymakers is
insufficient.
The 1983 dip in the number of NITs, the Chairman continued, in part
reflected his belief at the time that the list of NITs was too long and its
specificity too deep. He preferred instead generalizing the NITs into broad
issues relevant to intelligence collection and requiring very sober
coordination. Because of the felicitous intelligence resource situation of
recent years, the Community has been in a position to accept virtually all
requirements levied on it. But now that we are running into a resource
problem, we will have to decide what we can and can not do.
Concluding, the Chairman reported that, as a vehicle for improving the
intelligenea-policy dialogue, he plans to make the Committee on Requirements
and Priorities more active. He is satisfied with the NITs document before the
Committee and that the dialogue with consumersis essentially healthy. But he
hoped the principals will take the message back to their organizations that
constant interaction is critical if intelligence is to do its job. He then
thanked the principals for the time their agencies devoted to producing the
to see to its
NITs, approved the document, instructec
publication, and approved its being provided to the Intelligence Oversight
Committees.
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Mr. Walsh referred to the coming change of administrations and judged that
it would be advantageous for the Community to orchestrate a program for
orienting the incoming policymakers op the intelligence process and issues.
If the Community does not, these policymakers will attempt to use the process
inappropriately and ineffectively.
The Chairman hoped that, when the time comes in February and March, senior
Community officials will be aggressive in doing missionary work. The DCI
he are prepared to invest a substantial amount of their time to it, and
expects others to sit down with the new policymakers to explain how the
intelligence process works. It is important that they understand that
intelligence is not the practitioner of some black art, but rather a
considerable asset to be used. The Community, per se, has never done
missionary work before, and, even when CIA has attempted it, CIA could have
done a better job. Orientation Pamphlets and videos are not sufficient to the
task; it is necessary to go in and talk personally with the policymakers.
and
z
Mr. Negus seconded the Chairman's views. The discussion having ended, and
there being no further business before the Committee, the Chairman adjourned
the meeting.
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SIG-I MEETING
8 September 1988 - 1500 Hours
Committee on Requirements and Priorities
National Intelligence Topics
Attendees: Robert M. Gates, DDCI,
Chairman
NSC Barry Kelly
Mary Henhoeffer
State Curtis Kamman
Defense Charles A. Hawkins, Jr.
Treasury Michael R. Darby
Randall M. Fort
Commerce Robert Brumley
Christine Crosby
Energy Robert J. Walsh
JCS Gordon Negus
Major Stephen Simpson, USA
IPC
ICS
IPC Staff
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SUBJECT: Draft Minutes of SIG-I Committee Meeting on
8 September 1988, 1500 Hours (0U0)
Distribution: ICS-88-3347
1 - Deputy Assistant to the Presideni
for National Security Affairs (Attn: Mr. D. Barry Kelly)
2 - Under Secretary of State (Attn: Mr. Russell Ingraham)
3 - Under Secretary of Defense (Attn: Mr. Charles A. Hawkins, Jr.)
4 - Under Secretary of Treasury (Attn: Mr. Randall M. Fort)
5 - Under Secretary of Commerce (Attn: Mr. Kim FitzGerald)
6 - Under Secretary of Energy (Mr. Robert J. Walsh)
7 - Senior Representative of the Chairman,
Joint Chiefs of Staff (Attn: Gordon Negus)
8 - Director, Intelligence Community Staff
9 - DDCI
10 - ADDI/CIA
11 - IPC Staff
12 - Executive Registry
13 - ES/SIG-I
14 - SIG-I Chrono
15 - SIG-I Subject
16 - ICS Registry
ES/SIG-I
(9 Sept 88)
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SENIOR. INTERAGENCY GROUP (INTELLIGENCE)
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20505
ICS 88-3345
22 August 1988
mEMORANDUM FOR: Principals of the Committee on Requirements and Priorities
Senior Interagency Group - Intelligence
FROM: Executive Secretary
SUBJECT:
Meeting of the Committee on 8 September 1988 at 1500 Hours
1. The SIG-I Committee on Requirements and Priorities will meet at the
above-citea time
The meeting will be chaired by the Chairman, Deputy Director of Central
Intelligence Gates. Attendance is by principals plus one.
2. The agenda for the meeting contains one item, US Policymakers'
National Intelligence Topics for FY 89. The document will be sent to you
under separate cover in the next several days.
3. Please supply the names of your attendees to the Secretariat
no later than noon, 7 September 1988.
Distribution:
Deputy Assistant to the President
for National Security Affairs
Under Secretary of State
Under Secretary of Defense
Under Secretary of Treasury
Under Secretary of Commerce
Under Secretary of Energy
Senior Representative of the Chairman,
Joint Chiefs of Staff
Director, Intelligence Community Staff
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a.
? -1,
SUBJECT: Meeting of.the Committee on 8 September 1988 at 1500 Hours
Distribution: ICS 88-3345
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1 - Deputy Assistant to the President
for National Security Affairs (Attn: Mr. D. Barry Kelly)
2 - Under Secretary of State (Attn: Mr. Russell Ingraham)
3 - Under Secretary of Defense (Attn: Mr. Charles A. Hawkins, Jr.)
4 - Under Secretary of Treasury (Attn: Mr. Randall M. Fort)
5 - Under Secretary of Commerce (Attn: Mr. Kim FitzGeral d)
6 - Under Secretary of Energy (Mr. Robert J. Walsh)
- Senior Representative of the Chairman,
Joint Chiefs of Staff (Attn: VADM Howe) 25X1
8 - Director, Intelligence Community Staff
9 - DDCI
10 - ADDI/CIA
11 - IPC Staff
12 - Executive Secretariat
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14 - SIG-I Chrono
15 - SIG-I Subject
16 - SIG-I Micro
17 - ICS Registry
ES/SIG-I
(22 Aug 88)
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DIRECTOR OF CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE
Intelligence Producers Council
Washington, D.C. 20505
8 September 1988
NOTE FOR: Deputy Director of Central Intelligence
Chairman, Intelligence Producers Council
FROM:
Chief, Intelligence Producers Council Staff
SUBJECT: SIG-I Meeting on the FY 1989 NITs
1. Attached for your use is a recommended plan for conducting
the SIG-I meetina scheduled for 1500 hours, 8 September 1988, at the
2. At the 6 September IPC Meeting, the members were complimentary
and supportive of the changes implemented and process used in developing
the FY 1989 NITs.
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PLAN FOR THE MEETING
1. DDCI makes introductory remarks (Tab A); introduces Chairman, IPC
2. Chairman, TPC nrnvides background comments (Tab 6); introduces
Chief, IPC Staff
3. Chief, IPC Staff provides context for the NITs document and details
the changes and improvements now under way. Closes with recommendation for
approval and asks that DCI provide a copy of the NITs to the Congressional
Oversight Committees as was done in 1986
4. Discussion by the SIG-I members (See background information at
Tab D).
5. DDCI makes closing comments and gives mandate to to
implement the FY 1989 NITs, incorporating the changes, as approve ab E
6. The FY 1989 Draft NITs are at Tab F.
7. The package of changes by the NSC is at Tab G.
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Tab A
TALKING POINTS FOR DDCI
SIG-I COMMITTEE ON REQUIREMENTS AND PRIORITIES MEETING
8 September 1988
Since this is the first time this committee has met in
quite a while (October 1986) to discuss the National
Intelligence Topics (NITs), I would like to reiterate my
wholehearted support for the goals and objectives of this
project.
The NITs take on even greater significance in times of
scarcer resources such as we now face. We intend to apply
the NITs as a tool to ensure that the resources of the
Intelligence Community are used efficiently. (FYI: We
will be using the NITs to help make evaluations under the
DCI's one percent funding program.)
We will also be using the NITs to achieve better satisfaction of
the policymakers needs, with a focus on qualitative performance.
I understand that the senior officers who participate in the
Intelligence Producers Council have endorsed the NITs and are
inclined to make greater use of them in their production plans
and quality assessments.
I also understand that members of your respective organizations
worked very hard this year to refine and improve this
important statement of policymakers' intelligence needs. I
commend your representatives for their efforts.
As you know, the NITs ar dministerpd through the Intelligence
Producers Council, arid as the Council
Chairman, is here today to introduce the document to us.
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Tab B
TALKING POINTS FOR CHAIRMAN, INTELLIGENCE PRODUCERS COUNCIL
SIG-I COMMITTEE ON REQUIREMENTS'AND PRIORITIES MEETING
8 September 1988
When and I became involved with the Intelligence
Producers Council earlier this year, we set a goal to
revitalize the NIT process and ensure that the NITs lived
up to the spirit and intent of their purpose.
In particular, we wanted to be certain that the NITs truly
reflected the chief needs of our top policymakers.
and his staff have accordingly set in motion a series
of reforms calculated to achieve our goals. As you will
see, these changes involve substance as well as art form.
We have before us a document whose origins differ considerably
from those of its predecessors. I am confident, however,
that the document we are considering today represents a
real improvement because of the way it was produced.
will now give us the details concerning the FY 1989 NITs
that have been tabled for our approval:
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Tab C
TALKING POINTS FOR CHIEF, IPC STAFF
SIG-I COMMITTEE ON REQUIREMENTS AND PRIORITIES MEETING
8 September 1988
-- As has pointed out, our main objective this year has been
to begin revitalizing and improving the entire NITs process.
In recent months I have been concerned about certain
misperceptions which the Intelligence Community and policy-
makers have about the NITs. I want to talk about two
of them.
Some within the Intelligence Community perceive that the NITs
are growing out of control. However, this is certainly
not the case. The growth and diversity of recent NITs are
only a reflection of the growth in the numbers of users of
intelligence in the policymaking community and their specific
needs. In 1982, for example, we identified a body of 153
top policymakers using our products. Today, that
number has more than doubled and stands at 328. The types of
issues of concern to policymakers are also more diverse:
topics such as SDI, AIDS, treaty monitoring mobile missiles,
and narcotics were scarcely heard of at the beginning of
this decade.
We also want to dispel the policymaking community's mis-
perception that the NITs have little impact on intelligence
production. Let me assure you that they do. The producers
of intelligence, who keep their own records on outputs,
have furnished us data showing in FY 1987 that over 2500
finished intelligence products--ranging from typescript
memos to National Intelligence Estimates--responded to
that year's NITs. For the first six months of this fiscal
year, over 1,000 reports have been published in response to
current NITs.
For the purpose of improving the NITs document, we have made
two significant changes. One was the establishment of a
NITs Working Group consisting of representatives of your
respective agencies. This group met for the first time
this summer to coordinate the NITs. We like to think that
it resulted in an improved document. We plan to use this forum
throughout the year to improve consumer-producer cooperation
in a number of areas of common interest.
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-- The second change is the name of the document. Many within
the policy community felt there was nothing unique about
the NITs document to distinguish it from any other intelligence
document. You will note the document title now has "Policy-
maker" in it.
You have before you some last-minute changes to page 57 of
the draft NITs as proposed by the National Security Council
Staff. We are prepared to accommodate those changes, if
you approve them.
I recommend that you approve the draft FY 1989 NITs.
In addition, I recommend that the approved NITs be provided
by the DCI to the Congressional Oversight Committees as
was done in 1986.
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Tab D
DISCUSSION BY THE SIG-I MEMBERS
The NSC has provided a last-minute addition to the NIT
package; if the NSC does not withdraw it, the IPC Staff
is prepared to accommodate whatever changes the SIG-I
approves.
Each member will be provided a set of graphics showing the
growth and distribution of the NITs by subject area.
This may generate some discussion.
There is a possibility that Charlie Hawkins of DoD may
raise the issue of how seriousl the Community responds
to the NITs. However et with Hawking last
week and showed him how e c anges in the application
of the NITs will help ensure that the Intelligence
Community will be responsive.
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Tab E
CLOSING REMARKS BY DDCI
Now that we have had a chance to discuss and review the
draft, I recommend that we approve the document and ask
to see to their publication (with the changes
as agreed to during our discussion).
I will also recommend that the DCI forward a copy of the
FY 1989 NITs to the Congressional Oversight Committees.
Overall, what we are seeing is a process and document that
is resulting in several changes--all of them for the
better. Certainly the Community should be in an excellent
position to serve you--the policymaking community--more
effectively.
Furthermore, it appears that with the formation of the
NITs Working Group, the SIG-I will be playing a more
vigorous role in supplying key guuidance to the
Intelligence Community. I thank you all for your help
and support.
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Tab G
Proposed Change
Third World Insurgencies
21. Threats to US national security interests posed by
insurgencies.
a. Assessment of underlying political, military,
economic, and social causes of unrest.
b. Prospects of .local government to counter the
insurgency; military capabilities of government
and opposition.
c. Effect of insurgencies on US access to bases,
resources, and markets.
d. Political, economic, psychological dimensions of
local government strategy; integration of
military strategy; strengths, weaknesses, and
prospects of overall strategy.
e. Political, economic, and psychological dimensions
of insurgent strategy; strengths weaknesses and
prospects of strategy. '
f. External support for government and insurgents.
g. Trends in gains and losses.
h. Links between insurgent groups and narcotics
trafficking and international terrorism.
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