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| A Modest Proposal |
| 2006-05-18 |
| (original opinion) There is an interesting historical parallel between the modern reorganization of the Central Intelligence Agency and that of the US military, many years ago. At one time, the US military relied exclusively on the military academies to train its junior officer corps. However, by the time of the Civil War, this proved insufficient to produce the number of officers needed, and so the Reserve Officer Training Corps was born, at schools all over the United States. Today, the CIA suffers from a similar problem, not, however, based in quantity, but in the quality of its personnel. That is, the CIA is overdependent on recruiting from only two of the Ivy League schools, Yale and Harvard. And, while they might have once had a reputation for quality greater than the other universities throughout our nation, this is belied by the enormous number of deadwood and uninspired pencil pushers that have recently been dismissed from their ranks. The "honorable schoolboy" problem is well known, the recruiting, retention and promotion based more on school ties than proficiency or excellence. A similar situation destroyed British Intelligence during the Cold War, costing hundreds of lives and multiple billions of dollars to them and their allies. So therefore, a modest proposal. Like ROTC before it, the CIA should establish an Intelligence Training Corps (ITC) which operates on the campuses of major universities throughout the United States; and which recruits and trains students to eventually become agents, operatives or employees of the Central Intelligence Agency. Here, more than anything else, they would learn the philosophy of intelligence gathering, its history, and its value to our nation and the free world. Advanced subjects could cover all sorts of complex geopolitical analysis with respect to understanding the motivations of governments, religions, non-governmental organizations, and multi-national businesses in an integrated manner. But wouldn't this have a magnetic attraction to villains and spies of all types, hoping to infiltrate the CIA? Actually, no more than the occasional 8-ball or kook who joins the ROTC, with some bizarre expectation, only to find himself in a dull map reading class and doing far more physical exercise than he could possibly enjoy. Background checks, classroom and field performance, and instructor evaluation eliminate virtually anyone who really shouldn't be there. In the case of the ITC, students would get an education unique in the university environment: to put it all together and what do you have? Integrating the history, commerce, politics, demographics, and cultures of the world into a zeitgeist that explains *why* we need a CIA, *what* the CIA does and should do, and *how* such analysis moves the world from barbarism to civility. You take such classes to understand the world. But wouldn't having an ITC on campus, especially in some of the more radical leftist universities, drive the moonbats stark raving mad? Absolutely. In fact, in anticipation of faculty pouring gasoline on themselves in protest, the ITC act should include a provision similar to military recruiting or ROTC on campus: namely, if you want federal funds, you have to permit the ITC to conduct classes and recruit on campus. Of course, more conservative universities such as Texas A&M, Brigham Young, etc., would have far larger and more capable programs that say, Berkeley, where the perpetual smell of gasoline-soaked professors would be off-putting at best. Ironically, the CIA might not really obtain very many agents from such a program. But those who grasped the concept, who excelled in the instruction, and who were enthusiastic in field training over the summer months, might find themselves teaching the course to the next generation of students. That is, only the cream of the crop would become the very few who would be recruited. However, thousands of students would finally be taught what has been systematically been denied them from universities across the country. And the influence of that on the intellect of America would be astronomical. And it would also drive the left crazy. |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #2 Genius! Make all the students anonymous. Practice counter-insurgency against the left-wing campus groups. Fund it through point-shaving in collegiate athletics. |
| Posted by: Master of Obvious 2006-05-18 19:13 |
| #1 I'm too old for ROTC - maybe I could get into ITC? |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2006-05-18 17:58 |