Comparing The Challenges For US Counter-Terrorism Efforts

Paper 1: What are the capabilities and limitations of intelligence in supporting homeland security efforts?

Terrorism has become a main threat to the peace and development in the U.S and the world as a whole. Past experiences of terrorism such as the September 11th attack in the United States has a created the need to have a functioning counters intelligence which will effectively deal with terrorism. However, for the counter intelligence to be effective, other basic functions have to be played out. The basic functions are collection and analysis. The other function is the execution of covert actions and the major role is the counterintelligence. The Intelligence agents combine all roles and place them under the umbrella of intelligence.

Homeland Security is characterized by crime control being the primary police function. It is best achieved through a collective effort by all law enforcement agencies. One of the strategies being used is Intelligence Led Policing. This strategy is not new, it can be traced back to the British is the 1990’s (Bailey, 2011). Intelligence Led Policing is an approach to crime that deals with all crimes and threats including terrorism. This approach is unique because it is threat driven instead of incident driven. It also is a long term approach and focuses on causes and conditions that add to crime through a collection of data.

Good evening to all. I hope all is well this week. As many of you have stated, I thought I had a descent grasp of the United States Intelligence oversight. However, to my surprise I found that I actually did not have as good of an understanding as I thought. My shortcoming was in understanding just how convoluted the system is. The system has evolved over the years just as many things do. However, the system still has a long way to go before it’s as effective as it could be. Former Under Secretary Charles Allen noted that “virtually any terrorist attack on the homeland that one can imagine must exploit a border crossing, a port of entry, a critical infrastructure, or one of the other domains that the department has an obligation to

Compare and contrast the pre and post 9/11 law enforcement response to terrorism. What strategies could be implemented to increase future law enforcement capability in countering terrorism?

As we have seen throughout the entire history of warfare, ancient world terrorism, political intrigue and elitist terrorism of the middle ages, and into modern terrorism, intelligence is of vital importance on both sides. Armed forces have always used intelligence of some form be it sneaking up a hill and scouting what is on the other side to the use of modern platforms such as

The 9/11 attacks opened the avenue for a scrutiny of the performance and ability of the intelligence community to detect any threats to the safety of the United States. The media, politicians, reformists and other interested parties would not comprehend how such an attack would happen without the knowledge of the intelligence community. However, it is important to consider the fact that the attack was one of its kind and could not be approached with the resources and expertise used in other initiative such as the cold war. Therefore, the need to restructure the intelligence community arose from the view that it was still operating in the mindset and spirit of the cold war even in the modern era that had seen a revolutionary change of warfare

Following the attacks of September 11, 2001, then President George W. Bush stated “[o]ur war on terror begins with al Qaeda, but it does not end there. It will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped and defeated” (Bush, 2001, p. NA). The nature of the war on terror has changed dramatically since its inception in 2001. With al Qaeda decimated, its remaining leaders, members and supporters have fractured into several splinter groups each with their own aspirations. With varying ideologies, tactics and techniques, the strategy for dealing with these groups must be as complex and comprehensive as the groups themselves.

This counter terrorism strategy also helped to create the counter terrorism task force which promotes the coordination and coherence within the united nation’s system on counter terrorism and to provide assistance to other members. The security council of the UN is also there to help prevent and respond to terrorist acts. The Terrorist threat should continue to be the highest priority in our country because the attacks are often unexpected and they leave the country in turmoil. The threat of terrorism Creates the most serious challenges for the U.S. Intelligence Community as well as on the global level. ISIL is ruthless in its pursuits to terrorize individuals globally, but the united states will continue to combat its efforts. The united states

The United States Intelligence community draws on advanced technology and analytical techniques. An intelligence process that sets objectives, collects, analyzes, and report findings, with feedback loops integrated throughout. Explicitly, the intelligence community advantages technology and tradecraft within a proscribed process. However, estimation of threats and decision-making are outcomes of human thinking. Analysts and policymakers create mental models, or short cuts to manage complex, changing environments. In other words, to make sense of ambiguous or uncertain situations, humans form cognitive biases. Informed because of personal experience, education, and specifically applied to intelligence analysis, Davis

When the September 11, 2001 attacks occurred the United States responded in a manner which was seen as a traditional reaction to such an attack; it used its overwhelming superior military to invade the nation of Afghanistan. As Afghanistan was the operating base of the terrorist group responsible for the attacks, Al Qaeda, the invasion all but destroyed the group's operating capacity. But in response to the United States' apparent victory the terrorists have re-organized themselves into a looser confederation and turned to alternative methods of finance and operation. One could say that the success of the American military's answer to the September 11th attacks have created a new environment in which terrorists currently operate. This includes the use of the internet, unconventional alliances with international criminal organizations, as well the inception of the "lone wolf" terrorist. Faced with these new type of threats, the United States and its allies must find a way to identify and deal with them.

The fight against terrorism is an ongoing and relentless battle. As part of their effort to combat terrorism, the United States has developed a counterterrorism strategy, which includes eight goals. The first is to “Protect the American People, Homeland, and American Interests” (Forest & Howard, 2013, p. 796). America is The Land of Liberty, a place where all people come to be safe and free. At the heart of counterterrorism is the overarching desire to protect innocent lives. The second goal is “Disrupt, Degrade, Dismantle, and Defeat al-Qa’ida and Its Affiliate and Adherents” (Forest & Howard, 2013, p. 796). Al-Qa’ida, the terrorist organization responsible for the attacks of 9/11, presents a particularly relevant threat to the United States

The terrorist threat is one threat that can not be taken likely and requires effort from all homeland security stakeholders to prevent the consequence of such a threat. This threat can come in so many different fashions that it requires a collaborative effort to prevent its effects. If a terrorist has access to an item that can cause harm then it can be added to the vast list of threats. There have been terrorist attacks that have occurred utilizing explosives, chemical weapons, small arms attacks, toxic industrial chemical and if other threats are available then these threats would be used to cause mass causalities. The terrorist threat may have a strong hold in certain parts of the Middle East but the threat has traveled globally. Through the use of the internet, the terrorist organizations are able to expand their propaganda and therefore spread their influence globally. The internet has caused a change in the nature of the terrorist threat by not just associated this threat as foreign but one that can inspire homegrown terrorism. In this paper, it will discuss how terrorists are able to spread their influence globally and inspire followers to become homegrown terrorists. This paper will also discuss how the internet is utilized as a means to get information to home grown terrorists that can be used in a terrorist attack. Lastly, the paper will discuss how homeland security professionals can meet the challenges faced.

Counterintelligence (CI) involves actions aimed at protecting the United States against foreign intelligence operations and espionage from penetration and disruption by hostile nations or their intelligence services (Lowenthal, 2014). Three main components of Counterintelligence include collection, defensive and offensive. The collection is the ability to gather intelligence information about rivalry capabilities against own nation; defensive part of CI involves measures to prevent and thwart other nations ' attempts to penetrate into own nation 's intelligence system; while an offensive aspect deal with running double agents to penetrate, manipulate, exploit, and control targeted adversaries. CI is said to be the most essential aspect of the intelligence disciplines, in the sense that it helps in collecting vast quantities of secret information and produce an excellent analysis of intelligence, although, ineffective counterintelligence measures may diminish confidence in the final results (Van Cleave, 2013).

Despite spending billions of dollars to fight endless wars, global terrorism rose 43% in 2013. As a result, terrorism has been brought to the fore of not only the American mentality, but the international mentality as well. Consequently, we must do a few things in order to maintain our sanity, dignity, power, and security.