Tenet Mania

I was so much hoping to avoid the Tenet mania of the media since it's eclipsing the year's biggest spy affair, the censoring of the Director of National Intelligence's study on industrial outsourcing.  Much to my disappointment, Tim Shorrock did an excellent article on the former CIA Director's ties to the private intelligence industry that I just couldn't ignore. 

For the first time that I'm aware of, some very interesting companies were discussed, including QinetiQ where Tenet is on the Board.  (And yes, it was supposedly named after James Bond's Q and yes, it is know for some very sophisticated gadgets.)  QinetiQ is a unique contractor in the US intelligence community because it's foreign-owned.  Granted, the ownership is British, our closest allies and their policies usually move in lockstep with their cousins, but the integration of foreign owned firms into the American intelligence structures does raise questions of national security. 

With the QinetiQ precedent, will other foreign owned firms be allowed to become integral to US intelligence organizations?  Will only foreign intelligence corporations that can lure in senior former US intelligence officials to sit on their Boards be contracted with or is another standard being used to ensure national security? 

In keeping with The Spy Who Billed Me's tradition, QinetiQ has now been officially outed in an open source and will be added to the Rent-A-Spy roll, along with fellow outees, Advanced Concepts, Inc., SpecTal, Guidance Software and my personal fave, The Analysis Corporation (TAC.)  Welcome!

Comments

[Minnesotachuck]

Tell us more about the censoring of the DNI study on industrial outsourcing. That hasn't been visible yet on the radar screens out here in flyoverland.

Great blog, by the way. Thanks for the effort.