Re:You make an excellent point? (Score 1)

And on the subject of pay for a different manner of service, why do we try to attract people qualified to teach Mathematics and Science by raising the bar for the qualifications but keeping the pay at the same level for 10 years?

Think again: Why do we try to teach math and science by raising the pay of teachers who produce illiterate and incompetent "graduates"?

We might apply similar thinking to the intelligence services.

Nowhere are the relative competence and value of government employees more hidden from the public than in the intelligence services. In my own opinion, as a direct result, gross corruption and incompetence are actually likely to be pervasive. We have plenty of the same elsewhere in government where we can see it happening. It's a sure bet it's at its very worst behind the veils of "intelligence" secrecy.

As a consequence, we need a very special kind of strong and ethical leadership in the intelligence sectors, and I doubt we've got anything like that.