LegioXIII

obviously Skyfall...

Henry A. Crumpton, CTC head of operations, during the initial post-9/11 CIA operations in Afghanistan, described HUMINT as the most valuable source asset to any intelligence agency. John Keegan, military historian, has described the value of HUMINT as the skeleton key that makes sense of all other forms of intelligence.

He describes in a case study, how aerial surveillance photographs over a production facility revealed the existence of V-2 rockets in plain sight in 1944. However, without HUMINT to identify and contextualize the IMINT, the photo was did little to identify the impending threat.

So what do our resident military historians think of the role of HUMINT in the modern globally networked era, where all actions and transactions are recorded and all communications are monitored?

P.S. Also, what did you think of Skyfall?

Poly

HUMINT is a vital component of intelligence but I wouldn't say it is necessarily at the core

IMINT and SIGINT (plus the ever more important E-INT) are just as valuable in their way

Some conflicts however are entirely fought with HUMINT such as COIN operations

Irish Yankee

ALL of the "INTs" are necessary in the modern world. Haven't seen skyfall yet

Poly

Well in the Northern Ireland conflict, HUMINT constituted almost all the intelligence the British used.

COIN operations are becoming increasing common

SirOrmondeWinter

Loved Skyfall.

Until we develop a remote mindreading device Humint will always have a huge role