[Sloper]

Pass me the tin foil, my hat needs another layer.

I don't think that the loonie conspiracy theorists have the slightest idea of how an intelligence function works, but it helps them maintain their belief in the distorted view of the world so that's something at least.

If you're interested in how 'babylon' (descente cum filus) uses inteligence have a look at the National Intelligence Model which is probably floating out there in the ether and link this with RIPA http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/23/contents and you'll have a good idea.

As to most of the information being of low quality & etc, err yes, that's really how it works, the tricky bit is the filtering, the evaulation and x-referencing; which is necessarily less effictive unless you have a big grab. Directed suv is of course rather different; but loop back to see where the intel for direction comes from etc.

(declaration, not a spook, never a spook, but have had lunch / worked with some in non spooky rols)

[Oldmanmatt]

Are these organisations promoting the good of the public? Are they democratic? Why do they exist and what are the alternatives?

Ah ... I see. I wasn't sure whether you were having a go at me or Stratfor or both.

FWIW I have not been a Stratfor client and don't know them well. In my last job, people would sometimes send me Stratfor research stuff authored by George Friedman or his colleagues on geopolitical issues, usually with a very forward-looking slant, which I enjoyed. Extrapolation or conjecture rather than "intell", frankly. Fairly recently I bought and read George Friedman's (not to be confused with Tom Friedman, BTW) two books "The next ten years" and "The next hundred years". I recommend them often to people.

Re Stratfor as a business, it is one of a large number of firms who market themselves to banks/ consulting firms/ hedge funds/ etc as having some unique angle that will give their clients an informational edge. My impression is that Stratfor purport to have strong CIA links or whatever. Whether that is true I have no idea, and even if it were true, it is not obviously a big deal. In certain parts of the world you can hardly swing a cat without hitting someone rumoured to be a CIA agent. In my case that included a former climbing partner who was full of opinion on weighty topics but as often wrong as right.

Think I might have met him.
Was it the man (who lived in RAK), who announced that "US is gonna carpet bomb the entire Mid East"  on Sept 12th 2001? That lead to Solar Gas Turbines (amongst many other US companies) pulling all their Western personnel out?

Announced whilst drunk in the Sharjah Wanders Expat club?

Seriously, I know it wasn't the same fellow. You just reminded me of all the rumours about various loud Yanks I met out there.
It really did happen though.
Egg on face all round and many quietly sn**gering Brits, as the came back one by one over the next couple of weeks...

Nice of them though. I got to stay at my mates villa in Mirdif during his evacuation and my hunt for a new apartment.

And that was disgracefully off topic, I apologise, blame the insomnia...