Battlefield Korea

Intelligence Gap

Dr. John Winters had been a key foreign policy advisor during the president’s campaign, advocating for a hardline stance when it came to dealing with Islamic extremists. Despite popular opinion, President Gates was really not a military hawk or an interventionist. He believed America should refrain from foreign engagements, but if the US had to engage militarily, then it should do so with little restraint, fighting all out in order to win quickly.

As Dr. Winters sat through the CIA and DIA briefing on Russia and China, he started to get frustrated and dismissive of the information being provided. When it came to Asia, neither the CIA or DIA could agree on what was going on inside China or the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). China had just completed a several month-long naval live fire training exercise with both Russia and North Korea. Russia and China had also carried out a series of joint armored and airborne training exercises, and were currently completing a series of air combat exercises.

While this was not the first time these nations had done joint military exercises, it was the first time either country had done them to this level. Nearly 250,000 troops on all sides had participated in the ground warfare exercises. In the case of North Korea, China and Russia had provided with them with a massive surge in money, munitions, fuel, food and new weapons. Individually, these situations were alarming. Collectively, they were of grave concern.

While the Asian desks at CIA and DIA could not fully agree on what China and the DPRK were up to, there was no dispute about Russia. The Russians were providing additional heavy weapons and munitions to the separatists in Ukraine. They had even moved a few air defense systems, armored vehicles and a couple dozen tanks to the Donetsk People’s Republic. Of course, the Ukrainian central government did not recognize the Donetsk People’s Republic, or any of the separatist groups demands or self-elected governments.

As the briefing ended, Dr. Winters raised his hand, signaling that he wanted to ask something. “I appreciate your organizations’ time and effort in developing this comprehensive brief. However, before we end this meeting, I’d like to clarify a few things. My first question is what’s the motivation behind this sudden increase in military activity in Asia? How do we know that this is not just a distraction on the part of China or Russia? All this activity could just be a smoke screen for what’s happening in Ukraine and the Middle East.”

Both of the directors seemed a bit put off at the questions, partially because they were just stumped. They didn’t have a good answer for his questions.

The Director of the CIA finally admitted, “We don’t know why there has been such a run up of activity in China and Russia, at least not yet.”

“Well, at least you are being honest with me,” answered Dr. Winters. “It’s important that we know if the Chinese are moving troops or heavy equipment to the border regions, as well as if they are shuffling around any major airwings. Unless we know some of that information, then it will be hard for us to determine what their intentions are and what we tell the President… I want both of your agencies to figure this out and come back with an updated briefing within the next thirty days,” he ordered.

There was some grumbling that was barely audible around the table, but the directors eventually agreed to collect additional information and meet with Dr. Winters again.

As he left the room, Dr. Winters was frustrated by the lack of preparation that he saw. He groaned to himself, “The President has asked for a comprehensive strategy on Ukraine and how the country should deal with Russia. If the National Security Council isn’t giving him the best possible information, we could end up with a diplomatic misstep or an accidental conflict.”

He decided that in addition to sending out the intelligence agencies to complete their previously inadequate work, he would make some phone calls of his own. He was a very connected man. Everyone he knew had a connection to someone with the information he sought.