South Asia Center Distinguished Fellow Shuja Nawaz writes for New York Times Room for Debate on why a revivified CIA is crucial for combating many of the terrorist threats the world faces today:
A revivified C.I.A. is necessary today to fight against radicalism, militancy and the forces of anarchy that threaten the region from Bangladesh to Morocco. But it must bear in mind the admonition from Ambassador William Sullivan that the best intelligence is policy neutral.
Gathering and making sense of information, in a world of atomized threats that coalesce at the speed of modern connectivity, demands patience and understanding of both friends and foes. Not desperate resorts to violent methods or harmful tactics that create blowback at home and abroad.
In Pakistan, the C.I.A. can now take advantage of a gradual improvement in governmental relations to re-establish ties and emerge from the depths of distrust that sent the alliance into a tailspin over the last decade.