11. Memorandum From the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Brzezinski) to Director of Central Intelligence Turner1
SUBJECT
- NSC/CIA Liaison on Information/Intelligence
Now that the Administration is nearly three months old, it has occurred to us that it might be valuable to have a working-level meeting between the NSC staff and people at CIA who direct preparation of intelligence and other materials which we use.
There have been a number of conversations between individual NSC and CIA people about information flow, along the lines of the following questions:
- —What kinds of information/intelligence are most useful to the NSC, and in what format?
- —What kinds of information have proved to be most useful, and what could usefully be revised or eliminated?
- —How can CIA officers best learn of the needs of NSC personnel on a timely basis, so that analyses will be ready before decisions/problems are upon us?
- —How can CIA best communicate a sense of impending problems/issues, so that NSC can best use CIA analyses and judgments?
If you agree with the value of a meeting to discuss these questions, I would propose that the NSC staff meet with people whom you designate—perhaps half a dozen—for an hour or two sometime in the near future.
I would welcome your comments.