Introduction

U.S. intelligence analysts today are pushing the limits of their craft and finding a welcome reception from some of their most senior consumers. At the same time, they are also stretched and frustrated with the uncertainty of their mission and buffeted in the wake of the national investigations of intelligence failure before September 11th and before the Iraq war. The contrast partly reflects differences across analytic agencies, but it also reflects differences within them. And it also reflects tensions within individual analysts over what they do and how they add value. In analysis, as in other areas, the Intelligence Community