WHERE ARE THE HOSTAGES?

Our greatest challenge was in identifying exactly where the hostages were. The embassy compound was 27 acres with three separate building complexes. Where the hostages were held was crucial to determining force requirements and objectives.This was never resolved.

Earlier, Adm (Ret) Stansfield Turner, as the Carter Director of the CIA, had eliminated much of the HUMINT capability of the Agency in favor of technical intelligence. We paid the price.

MYTH AND REALITY

At one time, the organization's ability to gather and decipher intelligence and to conduct selected operations was unmatched in the world. This capability was largely due to human beings.

Then science began to take hold.

Machines were invented that could do wonderful things. They did these things from locations far removed from the objects of their targeted attention. They were low risk and what they did was very good. But it wasn't a complete picture. Only a person could make a complete picture and truly judge what was being observed or reported.

But people also entailed risk. Risk that the person may not be totally reliable. Risk that he may be caught. And the greatest risk of all, that he also might be difficult to control. In a management oriented Society, risks are reduced to the barest minimum. Man went, and the Machine replaced him.

The general presents a problem that a machine cannot solve. The exterior of the building is well developed and clear. The interior of that building is totally invisible. The humans are inside. With luck, the rescue force will get inside also. But where and how and what will they find? This is a “people” question that cannot be programmed into a machine.

The intelligence “community” has several problems. An asset if inserted may be found. There may be no person capable of doing the job. Most have been fired or retired. And existing as it may be compromised for a project of dubious worth and his long-term value to the “community” destroyed.

These problems are noted by The General. He has several questions that he must answer. Where are the hostages? How are they guarded? Who guards them?

Machines can’t answer these questions. Like the Luck of Roaring Camp, man is the weakest and yet the strongest link.