US Intelligence and War: A History of Mistakes

[unhappycamper]

http://watchingamerica.com/News/236964/us-intelligence-and-war-a-history-of-mistakes/

US Intelligence and War: A History of Mistakes
Panorama, Italy
By Michele Zurleni
Translated By Sabrina Chapman
28 March 2014
Edited by Bora Mici

~snip~

The U.S. Intelligence Failure

There have been many in the past 70 years, starting with the attack on Pearl Harbor. Here is a list of the most notorious, most of which are attributed to the CIA.

- The Korean War, 1950

Soldiers of the People’s Army of North Korea crossed the 38th parallel and invaded the southern zone of the peninsula. The Americans were completely taken by surprise. Several days later, U.S. intelligence sent a report to President Truman stating that China would not intervene in the conflict. Several weeks later, 1 million Chinese soldiers were fighting against the Americans.

- The Hungarian Revolution, 1956

In January of that year, a CIA report confirmed that the Soviet Union controlled its empire in Eastern Europe without any opposition, and that this situation would continue for many years to come. Five months later, a revolt broke out in Poland, followed by the Hungarian Revolution in October and November, which cut off the Soviets with armed tanks. Washington was taken by surprise.

- Vietnam War, 1956 to 1975

The years of conflict that America has lost are numerous and filled with intelligence areas. The size of the enemy was underestimated, its capacity to fight and the solidity of its organization, the political analyses on the endurance of the regime and the South Vietnam army were mistaken. At the time, the generals wanted to tell Washington that everything was fine; however, they were frequently incapable of analyzing the situation, leading to mistakes. This all resulted in the Tet offensive in 1968, when the Americans were attacked by surprise by a force of 85,000 men throughout Vietnam, including Saigon.

[Al Carroll]

1. Even more...

US intel did not predict the fall of the Soviet Union.

They did correctly predict the failure of the Iraq War, but of course Bush and Cheney ignored them, or manipulated the intel.

[Baitball Blogger]

2. Welcome to DU.