Congress should move forward on intelligence center in the U.K.

Last month the largest naval task force Russia has deployed since the end of the Cold War passed through the English Channel, enroute to the Mediterranean, where it will likely participate in the Syrian government’s final push into Aleppo. Russia continues to conduct large-scale military exercises and deploy advanced nuclear capable missiles near its’s boarders with our NATO Allies. Add to this Russia’s apparent meddling in our presidential election and one has to strain to remember a time when relations with Russia or the Soviet Union were worse and when it was more essential for our policy makers and military commanders to have good intelligence on the military activities and the intentions of Russia.

The U.S. intelligence community has taken steps in recent years to shift resources to our analysis of Russia. An area which had been allowed to atrophy in the post-Cold War era. An atrophy that accelerated due to the demands places on the Intelligence Community after 9/11. Our NATO Allies have also begun to shift intelligence resources toward Russia, recently following through on plans to create a new chief of intelligence position which would assist in managing the flow of intelligence across the alliance.

{mosads}The appointment of Arndt Freytag von Loringhoven to the post of Assistant Secretary-General for Intelligence and Security is an important first step. He is the former Vice President of the German Federal Intelligence Service. Having worked with the German intelligence service, in the past I can tell you it is a highly professional service and Mr. Freytag von Loringhovern’s experience there will be invaluable as he tackles the task of reforming NATO intelligence.

In light of these events, it is disturbing that investments intended to ensure that NATO and the United States have up to date facilities in Europe for the processing and distribution of intelligence to our military leaders and our Allies is being tied up in Congress for largely parochial reasons. For nearly two years now Congress has prevented the Department of Defense from moving forward with plans to construct new intelligence facilities in the United Kingdom which would support not only the U.S. Commander in Europe but also our NATO Allies. Given ever increasing tensions with Russia and the increasing threat of terrorism in Europe; this in unconscionable.

The Department of Defense has been accused of somehow cooking the books when weighing the options for where to put the new facility. Some believe that Lajes, a small island off the coast of Africa which belongs to Portugal, where the United States has long maintained an airfield used for refueling aircraft deploying from the continental United States is the appropriate location for the new facility, rather than the location in the United Kingdom chosen by the Department in consultation with the British and our NATO Allies. While the squabbling continues in Washington our intelligence professionals toil away in repurposed World War II era buildings that are literally being held together with duct tape in some cases and our Allies are working out of repurposed shipping containers.

The simple fact of the matter is Lajes is the wrong place for this center. Lajes has no specially built facilities to support intelligence operations and questionable communications infrastructure. Not to mention our Allies will not commit to following the United States should we move there. And I can tell you from nearly 20 years in the intelligence community that proximity to both the commanders and our allied counterparts is important and cannot be solved with any number of teleconferences or virtual meetings. Moving U.S. intelligence personnel to a remote, ill equipped, and hard to access island would do nothing to improve the ability of our intelligence professionals to support our policy makers and military leaders in these difficult times. I should note that the poor accessibility of the island was made all too clear last year when a Congressional delegation visiting the island could not land for several hours due to high winds. The simple fact of the matter is Congress is wasting both time and money by delaying the decision to move forward with construction. They are putting American and NATO at risk while providing aid and comfort to our enemies in Moscow and the Middle East. I for one still believe that politics should end at the water front and it is past time for Congress to act.

Joe Whited is the former Intelligence Lead for the House Armed Services Committee and spent over 18 years serving in the Intelligence Community.

The views expressed by authors are their own and not the views of The Hill.