Intelligence is the process through which a particular type of information is taken from collection, evaluation, analysis, integration, interpretation and finally dissemination. The information collection process is a critical national security activity that every country needs to protect from foreign and terrorist invasions. Information gathering process entails a variety of activities from the essential eavesdropping, spies, open sources such as radio and publications to technological sources that require a lot of expertise (Nimon, 2013). The introduction of information technology after the Cold War and the numerous developments in technology has made this collection process easier. The scope of intelligence is not only meant to assist the government but can also be used by many other organizations such businesses to help them in policy making processes. Additionally, during the election periods, political parties can use intelligence as a way of finding the logistics and strategies of the other opposition parties. Intelligence is, therefore, an essential tool to meet the social, economic and legal goals of a country (Merino, 2013).
The data collection process majorly exists in six distinct categories with the descriptions of intelligence collection process (Roger Leroy Miller, 2012). These methods of data collection have however over the years triggered heated debates even among students as to which is the most appropriate selection method to be used. The six primary intelligence collection disciplines include the following:
HUMINT (Human-source Intelligence).
This discipline contains information obtained from persons who have access or know sensitive information that implicates the United States security interests. HUMINT is also known as human intelligence and therefore forms part of the interrogation process. Bodies such as FBI, CIA Agency and the Defense Intelligence Agency are known to use this type of intelligence source for the Intelligence Community.
SIGINT (Signal Intelligence).
It involves the process of obtaining intelligence from electronically transmitted systems such as radar, weapons and mobile phones by intercepting the signals or communications from these systems. The most prominent tool used in this process is cryptanalysis which enables one to read encrypted information, the more reason why foreign governments or even terrorists protect sensitive information through encryption (Merino, 2013).
MASINT (Measurement and Signature Intelligence).
Measurement and signature is an intelligence source that can locate, identify and give a detailed description and characteristics of a particular target. MASINT is an important field of information especially for military bodies to assist in figuring out the telemetry of missiles or in identifying distinct radar signatures for particular aircraft.
IMINT (Imagery Intelligence).
It entails the electronic creation of images through systems such as electro-optics, radar sensors or even visual photography with the purpose of collecting imagery information.
OSINT (Open-Source Intelligence).
This source involves the collection of data from sources that are publicly available to the general population such as the internet and newspapers. Open-source major collectors included (FBIS) Foreign Broadcast Information Service but with the new advancements in technology, the internet has provided a platform for multiple users to be able to get and analyze information.
GEOINT (Geospatial-Intelligence).
The analysis involved in this discipline entails the interpretation of imagery representations of safety related activities on earth.
All the six intelligence disciplines are considered significant but SIGINT and HUMINT are known to play a central role in protecting the U.S from foreign and terrorist activities and thus upholding security in the country (Dempsey, 2011).
Intelligence can exist as a matter of social, economic or legal aspects with varying benefits and implications. First and foremost, on the social perspective, data obtained from individuals or members of the society within a country's border has always been presented as an exceptionally sensitive issue especially in powerful states like the U.S. The reason why such information is considered confidential is that different governments have different ways of interpreting such information. A political party known to have control over the others, for example, is likely to consider any domestic political opposition as a security threat, thus enabling its intelligence to focus on strategies that will lead to the downfall of the opposition party. Other governments do not view domestic opposition parties as security threats and thus not in the spotlight as intelligence targets (Merino, 2013).
The importance of intelligence in an economy is that it serves as an excellent tool for improving a nation's economy. The use of advanced technology to conduct intelligence has enabled the United States to cut on some expenses and as a result, boost their economic status. It is for this reason that countries like China and Russia took major steps of purchasing modern technology to aid in the intelligence process rather than spending more money and time in developing their technology (Merino, 2013). The process to acquire advanced technology was an important step in that enabled the diversion of funds to the fulfillment of other important economic issues. As much as intelligence plays a part in economic development, it is still unclear which specific financial problems have national security scopes those require intelligence agencies to chip in. Currently, only those economic issues that affect the military or foreign policy concerning national security fall in the bracket of intelligence agencies. A good example is information regarding a country's access to strategic materials such as weapons. Knowledge at an economic level has excelled in advancing the private economic well-being of the nation.
On a legal point of view, intelligence has relevance on threats not necessarily concerned with the foreign governments. It captures issues such as organized crimes or even drug trafficking. These two elements exist most frequently as law enforcement tasks rather than intelligence, however; intelligence has played a significant role in solving them. Information on the international aspects of organized crime and drug trafficking that could most likely not exist for law enforcement agencies is likely to be brought forth through intelligence (Haugen & Musser, 2009). Intelligence agencies are also in a better position to obtain information on organized crimes that are to take place at a particular moment and help stop them before they occur as opposed to government law enforcements that wait until a crime occurs. Law enforcement duties and intelligence go hand in hand as intelligence helps to identify the organizations involved or to plan to strike some criminal activities while the law enforcements work towards punishing the criminals.
Failure to pay attention to the social, economic and legal implications of intelligence or give less attention has always resulted in negative impacts with the major outcome being intelligence failure. Paying less attention to intelligence may lead to surprise attacks which are an indication of intelligence failure. These attacks typically occur without warning and thus have a significant impact of causing destructions mainly to a nation's economy. States that experience unexpected attacks are more likely to experience stunted economic growth as larger business organizations, public health infrastructures, and institutions are common targets for terrorist attacks activities. For example, the surprise attacks that occurred in the U.S in September 2001 due to the breakdown of intelligence warning caused massive destruction and life loss and hence forcing the U.S to pay exceeding attention to their Law Enforcement Intelligence (Merino, 2013). Inadequate attention to the economic implications of intelligence is also a recipe for slowing economic development as it leads to unnecessary expenditure on millions of dollars to solve an immature threat.
Intelligence failure is the reason why nations experience terrorist attacks that find them unaware. Unanticipated socio-political events can also cause an impact on a country’s foreign policy welfares similar to the one that occurred in 1978 when America underestimated the political troubles of the Shah and Iran (Dempsey, 2011). Intelligence failure due to inability to pay attention can also lead a government towards performing actions that are inappropriate and counterproductive to its interests. For example, a nation may gather faulty intelligence based on a hoaxed terrorist attack and end up declaring war with an innocent state just because a particular set of data was ignored or misinterpreted. A military operation may also fail due to the inadequacy of the intelligence community to provide accurate information necessary for the fulfillment and generations of weapons. The government may also fail to identify of reflecting on the immediate and the long-term community problems and issues. This failure may inhibit the ability of the government to plan effectively for domestic terrorist attacks and thus promoting unexpected state-sponsored attacks.
Poor quality intelligence analysis has not been due to the overwhelming volume of information present in the different types of agencies but do to the inability to identify significant facts and mere background noise. This poor quality is a product of paying inadequate attention to the social, economic and legal implications of intelligence and hence resulting into even more complex interrelationship among the social, political, economic, cultural and military factors. The bottom line is that few analysts can keep up with the process of analyzing data keenly due to the limited time given a bulk set of data (Dempsey, 2011). Additionally, many intelligence analysts are incapable of coping up with the increasing changes in this complicated world and it's for these two reasons that less attention is most likely to be paid on the various aspects of intelligence implications with the major outcome being an irrelevance if not a complete failure.
In conclusion, intelligence is the most important aspect towards achieving national security goals and therefore should exist in all nations. For achievement of these aims, it is important for intelligence agencies to be well conversant with information from all corners of the country including academic entities, governmental institutions, businesses, industries and all other community development projects such as healthcare facilities. The only way of obtaining such data is by allowing the state and local law enforcement agencies to create relationships with these entities. Intelligence is also central to Law enforcement agencies to help them execute their criminal and terrorist attacks duties. It is also worth noting that the ability of a country to meet its security objectives does not only lie on the sophisticated technology but also from the basic informal communication that when interpreted presents a security threat or does not seem right. A nation without a proper intelligence system is a plate for disaster and is more likely to experience unexpected internal and external attacks posing security threats which will primarily affect the economic development of the nation. It is, therefore, vital for countries to adopt reliable, high-quality intelligence to be able to meet safety and security needs.
References
Haugen, D. & Musser, S. (2009). Criminal justice. Detroit: Greenhaven Press.
Dempsey, T. (2011). Book Review: The Art and Science of Intelligence Analysis. Criminal Justice Review, 36(4), 516-518.
Roger Leroy Miller, L. (2012). Criminal justice in action. [Place of publication not identified]: Broadman & Holman publish.
Nimon, H. (2013). Intelligence Collection: How to Plan and Execute Intelligence Collection in Complex Environments. By Wayne Michael Hall and Gary Citrenbaum. Santa Barbara, CA, ABC-CLIO, LLC. 2012. Journal of Strategic Security, 6(3), 129-131.
Merino, N. (2013). Criminal justice. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press.
