President Donald Trump delivers remarks during a visit to the Central Intelligence Agency in Langley, Va., on Saturday. REUTERS/Carlos Barria
Paul R. Pillar, Business Insider/Responsible Statecraft: The intelligence community is intimidated by Trump
* The relationship between President Donald Trump and the officials leading US intelligence agencies has grown increasingly strained during Trump's time in office.
* Trump has pressured the agencies to describe events in a way that fits his worldview, and agency officials have gone along or ceded their role altogether, writes former intelligence analyst and security expert Paul R. Pillar.
The relationship between US intelligence agencies and policymakers has long had built-in tension. The agencies' very reason for existence entails a commitment to objectivity and to describing reality accurately whether or not that description suits the wishes of whoever is making policy at the moment.
But the agencies are part of the executive branch, headed by the president. When the agencies' output clashes with whatever message a president may be pushing publicly in support of his policies, it can be a bad day at the office for intelligence officers.
Bad days at the office come with the territory for intelligence officers, but what is bad for the country is when intelligence agencies start succumbing to the pressure from above and no longer speak truth to power, or at least no longer do so clearly, directly, and unhesitatingly.
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WNU Editor: Another post from someone who worked for the intel community for almost 3 decades, and who is unhappy that the power and influence that this community has had on U.S. government policy is now being questioned and (in some cases) ignored.
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