"D.I. writing style"

[Dick Margulis <margulisd -at- comcast -dot- net>]

In yesterday's New York Times Magazine, Deborah Solomon interviews 
Kenneth Pollack. Herewith a brief excerpt:

Solomon: It took you three months to write your new book, which weighs 
in at some 500 pages. That's less time than it will take most people to 
read it. How did you do it?

Pollack ("Middle East expert and former C.I.A. analyst"): I attribute 
that to my C.I.A. background. You have to write very fast at the C.I.A.

Solomon: Is there a C.I.A. literary style?

Pollack: Yes, the D.I. writing style. D.I. stands for Directorate of 
Intelligence. It is very formulaic. Is is about how you present 
information in a way that is easily digestible to a busy policy maker. 
It's very useful.

Solomon: Perhaps the C.I.A. should stop collecting intelligence and 
instruct us in expository writing instead.

Pollack: I think the English language would be greatly impoverished if 
we all wrote in the C.I.A. D.I. writing style.

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