How can the U.S. improve its human intelligence?

One of the most devastating elements of a terrorist attack is surprise, coming at a time and place and by means of an adversary's choosing. The two most costly of such attacks in my lifetime occurred on Sunday morning, Dec. 7, 1941, and on Tuesday morning, Sept. 11, 2001, sixty years apart. ...

...Similarly, human intelligence can also be an important factor in helping our electronic tools focus upon unusual plans or activities on the ground. Each is important in early detection and analysis. Together, they can make an important contribution to the safety of our nation by avoiding surprise and miscalculation of the intentions and capabilities of our adversaries and are thus indispensable to our policy-makers in reaching sound decisions in the best interest of our country. Public source information must also be factored in. But if we want to avoid surprises like Pearl Harbor and 9/11 we must have access to closely guarded secrets. Humint cannot be an afterthought. It must be developed in advance and the intelligence community must be afforded the time and funding to make sure it is in place when it is needed. ...