[Infowarrior] - CIA Adds Economy To Threat Updates

[Richard Forno]

CIA Adds Economy To Threat Updates
White House Given First Daily Briefing

By Joby Warrick
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, February 26, 2009; A04

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/25/AR2009022503389_pf.html

The daily White House intelligence report that catalogs the top  
security threats to the nation has a grim new addition, reflecting the  
realities of the age: a daily update on the global financial crisis  
and its cascading effects on the stability of countries through the  
world.

The first Economic Intelligence Briefing report was presented to the  
White House yesterday by the CIA, the agency's new director, Leon  
Panetta, revealed at a news conference. The addition of economic news  
to the daily roundup of terrorist attacks and surveillance reports  
appears to reflect a growing belief among intelligence officials that  
the economic meltdown is now preeminent among security threats facing  
the United States.

"We've seen the impact of a worldwide recession occur throughout the  
world," said Panetta, who described the agency's newest product at his  
first news briefing since his confirmation. Instigated at the request  
of the White House, the daily report will ensure that U.S.  
policymakers are "not surprised" by the aftershocks from bank failures  
and rising unemployment, he said.

The spy agency is following worrisome trends in many corners of the  
globe, from East Asia to Latin America. In private meetings yesterday,  
Latin American intelligence officials warned their U.S. counterparts  
of a crisis spreading throughout the hemisphere, particularly in  
Argentina, Ecuador and Venezuela, Panetta said.

"Clearly, it's related: What happens in the economy, and what's  
happening as a result of that, is affecting the stability of the  
world," he said.

Other key intelligence officials have raised similar alarms in other  
settings. The new director of national intelligence, Dennis C. Blair,  
told a Senate panel this month that economic woes have largely  
replaced terrorism as the country's No. 1 security challenge.

Blair repeated the theme yesterday in testimony before the House  
intelligence committee, noting that three European governments have  
fallen because of economic issues. Central and Eastern Europe "are  
under tremendous strain," and much of Eurasia, Latin American and sub- 
Saharan Africa lack sufficient cash reserves and access to  
international aid, he said.

"Our analysis indicates that economic crisis increases the risk of  
regime-threatening instability if it continues for a one- or two-year  
period," Blair said. "Instability can loosen the fragile hold that  
many developing countries have on law and order."

The economic crunch adds to a formidable list of global concerns  
facing the new administration's security team. Panetta said the CIA  
continues to regard al-Qaeda as a serious threat, as the terrorist  
movement retains its stronghold along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border  
and gains momentum in Somalia and Yemen.