"During the Cold War, we gathered information by listening to the Soviets, taking pictures of the Soviets, and we allowed our human intelligence to decline"

This quote by Bob Graham is referring to the Cold War duration, which was a time of extreme political and military tension in between the United States and the Soviet Union. During this time, the United States collected information about the Soviets by listening to their communications and taking images of their activities. Nevertheless, the US likewise enabled its human intelligence abilities to decrease, implying that it relied more on innovation and less on human intelligence to gather details. This might have been a strategic choice, as the US might have wished to prevent the risk of having its agents recorded or eliminated by the Soviets. Eventually, this quote highlights the importance of human intelligence in gathering details, and the threats associated with relying too heavily on innovation.