https://www.statecraft.pub/p/how-to-run-a-cia-base-in-afghanistan
This is a point of frustration at times between CIA officers on the ground and those in the policy establishment in D.C., who maybe have studied a country at the graduate and PhD level, worked on a campaign, and worked in a think tank, but have never been “on the ground” for any meaningful period of time. There wasn’t much more frustrating than a call with someone on the National Security Council (NSC) who had jumped from campaign to think tank and back, who believed they were the foremost expert on a topic.
CIA does not make policy, it only reports the facts on the ground and makes assessments. But a number of times in my career, it was a real challenge to watch people in D.C. get things so wrong and not be able to do anything about it.
We are facing a dearth of people who truly have knowledge on topics nowadays, because we're surging people to different areas. We're trying to cross-pollinate and that's to our detriment most of the time.
The biggest challenge, however, is mediocrity in bureaucracy.