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What does the Bureau of Intelligence and Research do? Meet INR, the contrarian intel bureau that US officials rely on - Vox

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Vox needs your help to cover the 2024 election and ensure that our readers have access to timely and reliable information. INR is “almost always right.” How come nobody has heard of it? by Dylan Matthews Every American knows what the CIA is. I would guess that maybe 1 in 1,000 have ever heard of INR — the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research, American diplomats’ in-house intelligence agency. But if you do know about INR, you probably know two things: INR is the Cassandra of American intelligence, and it earned that reputation the hard way. As early as 1961, INR analysts were warning that South Vietnam’s battle against the North and the Viet Cong insurgency was failing, and would ultimately fail because the Viet Cong had the support of villagers in the South. Their analyses prompted furious rebukes from the likes of then-Defense Secretary Robert McNamara. But they were right. In 2002, it happened again. The CIA, the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), and the rest of th

Future Perfect The obscure federal intelligence bureau that got Vietnam, Iraq, and Ukraine right INR is “almost always right.” How come nobody has heard of it? by Dylan Matthews May 28, 2024, 10:00 AM UTC Pete Gamlen for Vox Dylan Matthews was a senior correspondent and head writer for Vox’s Future Perfect section. He is particularly interested in global health and pandemic prevention, anti-poverty efforts, economic policy and theory, and conflicts about the right way to do philanthropy. Every American knows what the CIA is. I would guess that maybe 1 in 1,000 have ever heard of INR — the Stat

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