Bombs, Bugs, Drugs, and Thugs by Johnson Loch K

Author:Johnson, Loch K.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2011-07-28T09:33:24+00:00

S E V E N

Sharing the

Intelligence Burden

The main effect [of intelligence cooperation between nations]

is to make national systems more productive than they would otherwise be, with more data and the technical advantages of dialogue with others. Governments get better views of the world at cut prices.

—Michael Herman, Intelligence Power in Peace and War Nations exist in a world of threats and opportunities. If their leaders are responsible, they seek knowledge—ideally, foreknowledge—about these conditions. The more accurate their understanding of global affairs is, the more likely they will be able to protect and advance their national interests. The goal of global awareness can be achieved only through the painstaking collection and assessment of information (from both open and concealed sources) about key events, circumstances, and personalities around the world. This gathering and analysis of information is the essence of intelligence.

This chapter focuses on the ways in which the United States has sought intelligence relations with other nations (usually close allies)and with international organizations to help collect and analyze information about common adversaries and problems. To illustrate, this chapter uses the experience of American-German intelligence ties during the second half of the cold war, a relationship largely overlooked in the literature on this subject.1

Liaison relationships can vary from quite close (America’s ties with Great Britain, New Zealand, Canada, and Australia) to rather weak (American and Russian cooperation on environmental intelligence).

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Sharing the Intelligence Burden Germany falls toward the close end of the spectrum, though short of the long-standing bonds between American and British intelligence. The U.S.-U.K. model, perhaps the most exhaustively researched foreign intelligence relationship, is a special case with an extensive, intertwined history between two enduring democracies that share a common language and culture. The U.S.-German case is closer to the norm, however, and therefore more instructive, marked as it has been by less wholehearted cooperation on both sides.

From time to time, Germany and the United States have joined in intelligence operations against the Soviet Union, the one foe that could bring about the sudden demise of their societies under a storm of nuclear missiles.2 This chapter explores the main issues involved in the efforts of officials in Bonn and Washington to work together against this common target and other threats through the sharing of espionage responsibilities.

The Raison d’Être of Intelligence Cooperation

The development of a human and technical spy network is expensive, especially if the host nation is a world power, or aspires to be one.

Even when a nation’s focus is a single adversary, resource investments can be high when the target is geographically large and well protected, as was the USSR. A number of nations, the United States and Great Britain among them, spend about 10 percent of their total defense expenditures on intelligence activities. At the end of the cold war, the United States was spending about $30 billion per year on intelligence and West Germany about $550 million.3 Particularly expensive are the spy satellites, which can be as large as a bus and cost a fortune just to propel into space, not to mention the expense of their design, construction, and management.

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