Ishmael Jones
Ishmael Jones (born 15 December 1960) is the pseudonym used by a former CIA officer. He resigned from the CIA and became a leading proponent of American
Early years
Jones was born in the United States and raised in the Middle East, East Asia, and East Africa. He attended universities in the US and served as an officer in the
Active CIA career
In the late 1980s he joined the Central Intelligence Agency where he served as a deep cover officer focusing on human sources with access to intelligence on
Work toward intelligence reform
After resigning in good standing, Jones began to work for intelligence reform by meeting with members of Congress and their staffs, members of the executive branch, journalists, political operatives and political contributors, and writing articles and a book.
While many policy and opinion makers agree that the CIA's human source programs do not function effectively, Jones believes the problems are not to be found with the quality of employees in the CIA, who he considers overwhelmingly talented and intelligent. Rather, the problem lies within the structure of the organization itself, which encourages a
Jones recommends dramatic reductions in the layers of managers and administrators and restructuring of the CIA's chain of command to clarify precisely who is in charge of any given operation.[4]
He also recommends the introduction of a
The Human Factor
In 2008, Jones published The Human Factor: Inside the CIA's Dysfunctional Intelligence Culture[6] describing his work against weapons of mass destruction proliferators and terrorists, and offering solutions to intelligence reform in an appendix. While the topic of intelligence collection and intelligence reform is deadly serious, Jones' writing when dealing with situational espionage and government bureaucracy contains humor. "If the subject were not so deadly serious, The Human Factor would be one of the funniest books of the year," wrote David Forsmark in FrontPage Magazine.[7]
In 2011,
References
- ^ Bill Gertz (December 4, 2008). "Obama Warned on CIA". Washington Times. Retrieved 2010-01-06.
- ^
Jones, Ishmael (2008). The Human Factor: Inside the CIA's Dysfunctional Intelligence Culture. Encounter Books. ISBN 978-1-59403-223-3.
- ^ Michael Ledeen (September 12, 2008). "Bonded to Dysfunction: Saving Intelligence". National Review. Archived from the original on 2009-05-31. Retrieved 2010-01-06.
- ^ Ishmael Jones (June 12, 2009). "Dismantle the CIA's Station Chief System". National Review. Archived from the original on July 7, 2012. Retrieved 2010-01-06.
- ^ Ishmael Jones (February 26, 2009). "Waste and Fraud at the Central Intelligence Agency". Citizens Against Government Waste. Archived from the original on May 31, 2009. Retrieved 2010-01-06.
- ISBN 978-1-59403-223-3.
- ^ David Forsmark (December 12, 2008). "The Human Factor". FrontPage Magazine. Retrieved 2010-01-06. [dead link]
- Politico.com
- ^ "Obama justice bashes CIA whistleblower", The Washington Times, 14 October 2011