Berntsen (3 x chief of station, OC CIA paramilitary at TB) speaks from a different perspective than IJ. His emphasis is on the DO - which, in his opinion, is the only thing "that distinguishes the agency from the Dept of Agriculture" (sure to raise some hackles among the analytic community) - and collection of HUMINT. Like IJ, he addresses the bureaucrats who impede collection efforts; but does not throw out the baby with the dirty bath water.

Besides the espionage branch of the agency's clandestine activities, Berntsen is very familar with its paramilitary branch. There he has a couple of proposals, which could cut away paramilitary covert actions from the agency:

1. Devlopment of an "American Foreign Legion", similar to the Brits' Gurkhas and the FFL. E.g., for Afghanistan, recruit indigenous folks from there and surrounding areas; 5-year enlistments with US citizenship path; led by US officers and SNCOs; etc.

2. Development of a new OSS (under a DSS - not within the CIA - since the DSS would be at same level as JCS) for less conventional military activities (cf., Jedburgh WWII). I suppose #1 and #2 could be combined.

That would leave the agency's clandestine side with espionage and non-military covert actions (disinformation, political infiltration, etc.). Some folks would be quite happy to see that - and the Executive would still have the DSS to play with.

Berntsen also has a number of other proposals in the personnel area (e.g., language skills, less reliance on fluttering, accept gay linguists, etc.) that are shared with other constructive critics of agency and DoD policies.

Berntsen also has kind words for JIEDDO (Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization) - as an example of co-operative effort...

https://www.jieddo.dod.mil/

and for Dalton Fury, covered here at this thread.

http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...ead.php?t=6161

He has a different slant on Iran from Bob Baer.

He is a bit weak (technically) when he addresses legal issues such as Gitmo, etc. - not one of his areas of expertise.