Opinion: Too much spent on bad information

Depending on what news outlet you follow, there are either 16 of 17 organizations or agencies that gather intelligence of the United States.

These organizations are broken down into two broad categories: the National Intelligence Program and the Military Intelligence Program.

The 2022 Fiscal Year budget appropriation for these two programs was about $90 billion. For that kind of money, you would think the government is provided with intel that is timely, accurate and verified by more than one source.

The intelligence organizations “leak” information to the news media on a regular basis. These leaks may not be the timely, accurate and verified data mentioned above, but regardless of that, the media will turn them into “news” that is disseminated to the American public.

In a news conference held June 27, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was questioned on the loss of Ukrainian tanks and armor. “I think the Russians have shown us those same five vehicles about 1,000 times from 10 different angles,” Austin said.

Less than two weeks later, Forbes Magazine headlined an article with this: “25 Tanks And Fighting Vehicles, Gone In A Blink: The Ukrainian Defeat Near Mala Tokmachka Was Worst (Sic) Than We Thought.”

Doesn’t sound like five vehicles about 1,000 times from 10 different angles.

As early as March or April of 2022, stories from multiple media outlets began declaiming that Russia was running out of missiles. The stories continued until last month, when the Center for Strategic & International Studies, a think tank in Washington, D.C., reported that, “Russia’s continued strike campaign in 2023 has made one thing quite clear: it is unrealistic to expect Russia to ever ‘run out’ of missiles.”

Prior to the Ukraine counteroffensive, former general and Director of the CIA David Petraeus gave his detailed analysis on the outcome of the operation. Any on-line search will reveal how badly Petraeus predicted the results of the campaign. It is hard to believe that Petraeus, with his background and contacts, came to his conclusions with the same set of data available to writers of opinion pieces.

My point is, we are spending around $90 billion a year for information that is either wrong or our military leaders choose not to use. If the intel is wrong or nobody cares, I am willing to provide the same load of cow patties for $10 billion.

Rube Render is a former Clovis city commissioner and former chair of the Curry County Republican Party. Contact him:

[email protected]