When they come to Washington once a year, the four-star U.S. military commanders who oversee every region of the world get to present their wish-lists to the Joint Chiefs of Staff and civilian officials at the Pentagon. Inevitably every year, they ask for better intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets. The 2007 meeting in November was no exception, said Army Lt. Gen. Carter Ham, director of operations on the Joint Staff. “That’s always a big part of this,” he told reporters. They want more ISR “so that they are aware of what’s going on in their region.”
Improved intelligence tools are needed everywhere, but especially in Afghanistan. U.S. and allied forces there often do not know who they are fighting against. “It is a little difficult to always be clear about whether it’s Taliban or al Qaida or some other group that is conducting operations,” Ham said. “Through our intelligence and others we tried to discern that, but frankly, we’re not always able to.”