Cindy Storer. Photo: Courtesy of UM Communications.
CIA analyst Cynthia “Cindy” Storer assisted in the collection, organization and reporting of data leading to the discovery of al-Qaida. Storer visited The University of Mississippi Friday to share her experiences with students enrolled in the Center for Intelligence and Security Studies program and the community at large.
While popular representations in film represent interpretation of the reality that is investigative work, Storer noted that many viewers forget the continual process inherent to a functional intelligence community.
“‘Zero Dark Thirty,’ among others, casts a little light on the part of the intelligence world that many people forget exists,” Storer said. “I mean, who ever heard of analysts?”
Storer believes there is an importance in understanding the work of an analyst.
“An analyst tries to explain the world,” Storer said. “Once they get a really good explanation, they try to forecast what is going to happen, based on what they understand.”
Interests in history, political science and geography led Storer to seek a more intimate understanding of the world through her work in the intelligence community.
“I was always interested in Afghanistan,” she said. “I love solving puzzles, and I like archaeology — I like mystery, and it all just came together.”
Storer said that either “being in the right place at the right time, or the wrong place at the wrong time” allowed her the opportunity to begin to uncover the organization of al-Qaida.
“I was working on Afghanistan in the early ‘90s and had colleagues working with the counterterrorist center on this Bin Laden guy, whom I had never heard of,” she said. “They were writing a paper on the training camps in Afghanistan, and that was the beginning of my transfer to the counterterrorism center.”
Working without Internet databases and instant access to information, Storer said that the working team of analysts housed in the CIA’s counterterrorism unit had to face the unique challenge of connecting data without instantaneous connection.
“We did not have a lot of data at that time,” she said. “People did not even use the Internet that much at that point. A lot of the information we were receiving was specific to what we were interested in, and what has changed with big data is that sorting becomes necessary.”
Storer described her experience as one of “following threads.”
“You follow threads from one bad guy to the next,” Storer said. “I was not convinced that scooping up everybody’s data is necessary, and I am still not.”
Weighing the balance between having enough information to complete the mission and providing the luxury of excess is an ethical challenge Storer said must continually be addressed.
“We do not have the answer to that yet,” Storer said. “And, as a world, we are addressing that right now — how much of your personal data do you want to give up in order to catch terrorists that may kill 2,000 people?”
Storer encouraged students who may be interested in pursuing a future in the intelligence community to consider beginning the process of honing judgement skills early.
“Take classes that require you to think critically, learn about the world, master foreign languages and write well,” Storer said. “Critically thinking, observing the world and reading the news every single day is necessary — you never know what you are going to get involved in, and having a broad perspective is extremely important.”
According to Storer, weighing information and comparing data is the primary challenge of the intelligence community.
“The one thing my students tell me that they learn above all else is to ask, ‘What is the source?’” Storer said. “Nine times out of 10, they cannot tell you; and, if they cannot tell you, go out and find it for yourself.”
Carl Jensen, director of the Center for Intelligence and Security Studies, said that hosting Storer was an educational opportunity for all in attendance of her lecture.
“There is a lot of misunderstanding about what intelligence agencies actually do and how they do it,” Jensen said. “Part of the mission of our center is to inform both our students and the public about the ‘real’ intelligence community. Professor Storer had a ringside seat to the most important U.S. intelligence mission of the first part of the 21st century — the hunt for al-Qaida.”
Jensen said that Storer gave an honest perspective on the intelligence gathering process.
“Her insights and candor peeled back the veil of secrecy that often accompanies such missions and gave our students a better understanding of what to expect as analysts,” Jensen said.
The Center for Intelligence and Security Studies will continue to host lecture series and engagement series when possible, according to Jensen.
“Our center will continue to provide an honest perspective on America’s intelligence community,” Jensen said. “For example, we are partnering with the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College and the Meek School of Journalism to present a panel discussion on the Snowden affair and the role journalists play in dealing with classified material. The panel will take place on March 19, and discussants will examine all sides of the issue.”
— Grant Beebe
beebe.thedm@gmail.com
