Biden’s DEI mandates creating very real national security threats

Editor’s note: The following is an independently edited excerpt from Cliff Sims’ article. “The Darkness Could Not Be Conquered: Lessons on Faith and Politics from Inside the Halls of Power.”

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence just sparked outrage by publishing an op-ed by a current intelligence official who claims that his experience as a cross-dresser has somehow improved his job performance. Backlash on such issues is usually met with negativity from Democrats and even some Republicans, who argue that conservatives should end the culture wars.

This is an ironic response, given the aggressiveness with which the left has imposed its woke cultural ideology on American institutions. But regardless of where you stand on that debate, or whether you care at all, the Biden administration has made hitting various diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) benchmarks a top priority in its National Information Strategy. We need to consider the impact this will have. Prioritize U.S. national security.

One of the most important roles of leaders in any organization is to set clear priorities. This is a particularly difficult challenge for the Director of National Intelligence, who nominally oversees a vast enterprise comprising 18 organizations and agencies and some 100,000 people.

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As a result, the opportunity cost of making DEI a central focus is greater than other national security considerations, such as intelligence, regional or target country, non-state terrorist groups, new technology, or deciding who to promote to leadership roles. priorities. It simply doesn’t get the level of attention it would get otherwise.

So the question is, is this trade-off worth it? After all, diversity is definitely important in intelligence operations. Who would be easier to blend into the city of Tehran: a person of Persian descent whose native language is Persian, or someone who looks and speaks similar to me?

Or, more relevantly, when you’re trying to understand the circumstances surrounding the outbreak of a pandemic in China, wouldn’t it be helpful to have a virologist on your team who is fluent in Mandarin? , a major challenge that delayed the ability to translate and analyze specific information about the origins of COVID-19.

However, these examples of relevant diversity are not what is supposed to be the focus of DEI in IC.

When I first visited Central Intelligence Agency headquarters in 2020 while working in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the hallways were filled with graphics promoting various DEI programs and initiatives and stressing the importance of each employee’s “identity.” were lined up. A handmade poster posted outside the cafeteria read, “A trans life is a human life.”

The cover of Cliff Sims’ The Darkness Has Not Overcome: Lessons on Faith and Politics from Inside the Halls of Power, which will be released in May.

In time, I discovered to my amazement that many so-called intelligence agents spend no time at all on intelligence work, much less on foreign threats to the nation. Because all of their tax-funded work is devoted to political advocacy. And they bully those who dare not follow the line into submission.

The IC’s DEI office was viewed with fear and anxiety even among the most senior intelligence officers. The office’s leadership was the subject of numerous human resources complaints, both formal and informal, due to its hostility toward colleagues and its secret police-like attitude.

But most of the time, people wanted nothing more than to keep their heads down and get out of the line of fire, not only within the IC but across the country, because a conflict with DEI police could lead to career and honor suicide. .

At one point, I wondered how things got to such a point, but in 2019, when then-DNI Dan Coats was in office, he touted “diversity.” By doing so, we realized that we were allowing the seeds of DEI to be planted in the National Intelligence Strategy. Its “Human Resources” section includes “and inclusion.” By the time we arrived in his 2020 mission to depoliticize IC, those seeds had grown into his forest of DEI.

Sims walks along the West Colonnade of the White House with Trump. (Official White House Photography: Sheila Craighead)

To new DNI John Ratcliffe’s credit, he has made his priorities clear through both words and actions. China-focused intelligence spending has increased by 20%, and in numerous public appearances, statements and even a rare poll, Ratcliffe has clarified that “China is the No. 1 national security threat.” did.

The Biden administration has seen an encouraging continuation of the China-focused intelligence efforts begun under President Donald Trump. But they have been overshadowed by global events stirring up turmoil on their watch, from Eastern Europe to the Middle East to America’s southern border.

But through it all, their unwavering focus on DEI remains, and the natural question is why is the Biden administration continuing to wage a culture war within the IC, even as an actual war is brewing? was born in

Even shortly after a Chinese reconnaissance balloon crossed the continental United States, an internal newsletter produced by ODNI’s IC Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility Office emphasized the importance of “words,” including avoiding hurting people’s feelings. was focused on. By the choice of words of intelligence analysts writing about the malign activities of the Chinese Communist Party.

Sims and Trump laugh together in the White House cabinet room. (Official White House Photography: Sheila Craighead)

The magazine also called on intelligence officials to stop using terms like “Islamic extremist” and “jihadist” for fear of causing offense. Arkansas Republican Sen. Tom Cotton To which he correctly answered, “Intelligence agents should spend their time finding terrorists without worrying about whether they will offend them.”

In short, the IC’s DEI efforts are nothing more than an attempt to impose the woke identity politics of the far left on the U.S. national security apparatus. Their so-called diversity efforts include references to ideological diversity and religious beliefs that force them to sympathetically but firmly reject the idea that gender is fluid; Conspicuously absent is any reference to the inclusion of police officers who refuse to comply with mandatory use of gender pronouns. Does not correspond to biological sex.

This kind of lack of diversity has already caused concrete problems in the national security bureaucracy, such as the FBI’s use of intelligence requirements to gather information on “traditional Catholics” in the United States. Would a more diverse intelligence community that respects traditional religious views raise concerns about such intelligence operations, or would they target their fellow citizens based on their sincerely held beliefs? Would you consider that?

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The next leader of the U.S. intelligence community should take concrete steps to ensure a truly diverse intelligence community focused on clear and specific national security priorities.

When I first visited Central Intelligence Agency headquarters in 2020 while working in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the hallways were filled with graphics promoting various DEI programs and initiatives and stressing the importance of each employee’s “identity.” were lined up. A handmade poster posted outside the cafeteria read, “A trans life is a human life.”

First and foremost, no one should have to sacrifice their religious beliefs as a condition of employment. We must protect the First Amendment rights of police officers who do not want to participate in mandated DEI training or forced pronoun use. IC contractors should be required to protect the same freedoms as a condition of doing business with the government.

Retention efforts will need to expand further outside the Ivy League bubble, where intelligence agents have traditionally gathered, and attract more top students from state schools and historically black colleges and universities.

So-called elite institutions have become woke indoctrination factories. This means that the IC’s talent pipeline is disproportionately filled with people trained to prioritize ideological conformity over critical thinking. And given the alarming rise in anti-Semitism on these campuses, it becomes increasingly difficult to argue that such institutions are the best places to train a truly diverse clandestine workforce. It has become.

Mr. Sims has published a new book detailing the rise of DEI in our nation’s intelligence sector. Here he is walking along the West Colonnade of the White House with President Trump. (Official White House Photography: Sheila Craighead)

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Perhaps most importantly, the IC DEI office should be abolished. That funding should be repurposed to further strengthen our ability to counter the rising and increasingly hostile threat of China.And the IC’s personnel evaluation and career development track should focus on ensuring the best spies and analysts are promoted based on ability rather than ideology.

Ultimately, the next leaders of the U.S. intelligence community will need to stand up to DEI bullies, restore meritocracy in the workplace, and preserve the American public, both for employee morale and for U.S. national security. We need to build a culture that unites around a collective mission to It’s safe, not dividing along personal identity.

Click here to read more about Cliff Sims