Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Strategic Assessments Branch


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was delete. Davewild (talk) 17:38, 19 June 2015 (UTC)

Strategic Assessments Branch

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not notable Mnnlaxer (talk) 16:45, 11 June 2015 (UTC)

This page is about a proposed group of 10 CIA analysts to perform strategic analysis of Bin Laden, al-Qaeda and Islamic extremism. There is no official name to the unit and it never got off the ground. There are only a few mentions of the phrase |"strategic assessments branch" in relation to the CIA and they are all based on one mention in the 9/11 Commission Report, page 342: "Though Deputy DCI John McLaughlin said to us that the cumulative output of the Counterterrorist Center (CTC) 'dramatically eclipsed' any analysis that could have appeared in a fresh National Intelligence Estimate, he conceded that most of the work of the Center's 30- to 40-person analytic group dealt with collection issues.6 In late 2000, DCI George Tenet recognized the deficiency of strategic analysis against al Qaeda. To tackle the problem within the CTC he appointed a senior manager, who briefed him in March 2001 on 'creating a strategic assessment capability.' The CTC established a new strategic assessments branch during July 2001.The decision to add about ten analysts to this effort was seen as a major bureaucratic victory, but the CTC labored to find them. The new chief of this branch reported for duty on September 10, 2001.7" All mentions of the group are sourced to the 9/11 report.

The coincidental timing of the new chief starting on September 10, 2001 is probably the reason the article was created in the first place. The article's creator User:Frank Freeman also created a deleted article A Strategic Analyst on 9/11 (see User_talk:Frank_Freeman) which was about a disaster test exercise the National Reconnaissance Office scheduled for 9/11 that simulated a small jet hitting their headquarters. I took this text out of Strategic Assessments Branch here:.

This material has been inserted into Bin Laden Issue Station, George Tenet, Central Intelligence Agency, International counter-terrorism activities of CIA and History of the Central Intelligence Agency for the sole purpose of adding the wikilink to this article. Those are the only incoming links to this article. Mnnlaxer (talk) 17:15, 11 June 2015 (UTC)
 * Delete: It appears to be an unverifiable allegation written in the blink of an eye. The reference to Steve Coll is a reference to Coll's quotation of the 9/11 Commission. This initiative seems to be one of those fever-dream proposals that were made around 9/11/01 that were over before the nightmare of the massive overhaul of the Department of Homeland Security took place. So, unverifiable, except as a proposal, and surely not notable, since no one has been writing about this "branch" that didn't come into existence. Hithladaeus (talk) 00:27, 12 June 2015 (UTC)
 * Delete per Hitgladaeus and WP:MILNG.--Tomandjerry211 (Let's have a chat) 14:52, 13 June 2015 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of United States of America-related deletion discussions. • Gene93k (talk) 18:10, 13 June 2015 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Military-related deletion discussions. • Gene93k (talk) 18:10, 13 June 2015 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Organizations-related deletion discussions. • Gene93k (talk) 18:10, 13 June 2015 (UTC)


 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.