INTRODUCTION
The United States has in the past been a target for various terrorist attacks. These include attacks organized by the Iraq and Arab countries. These attacks have been in form of bombings, nuclear attacks. An example of these attacks is the Islamic al-Qaida attacks. This has necessitated the development of counter-terrorism strategies to prevent further attacks in the future. These strategies involve use of law enforcement means as well as deploying of intelligence communities specialized for this. The people involved in these communities are thoroughly trained on how to fight their attackers as well as means of keeping their plans secret within their secret service. The U.S is continuously investing in counterterrorism strategies. This includes plans to advance the intelligence communities, and having them in strategic areas like the airports as has happened in the Logan International Airport (U.S). Efforts are also made to have various security agencies work together in unity. Parts of the law are also reformed to increase perfection. Positioning intelligence units in various places helps increase safety. The intelligence units include government agencies in the ministry of justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which plans the domestic counterterrorism strategies.
Use of intelligence communities has been effective in controlling terrorist attacks in the past. It however faces several problems that tamper with its efficiency. For instance, the United States had a terrorist attack in September 11, 2011 while the intelligence units were still in position. They did not have any idea of the plan to attack and this proves that the efforts by the U.S government to counter terrorism have loopholes. The intelligence communities also experience the problem of facing dangerous groups of terrorists like the al Qaeda, which prove difficult to conquer to some extent. Such groups threaten and do not hesitate to blastoff fatal attacks to the United States’ citizens; hence, the intelligence units are limited in their attack plan since it is easier to seek peace with the terrorists than to allow the attacks to lead to such massive loss of innocent lives of the dwellers of the US.
THE INTELLIGENCE CYCLE & PROBLEMS IN COUNTERTERRORISM PROCESS
Intelligence units in the U.S are designed to provide necessary information on detected moves of terrorist with intention of attack. This information is necessary for the commanders and the policy makers in developing the necessary strategies. This information is measured against very high standards to increase the efficiency of the intelligence units. The performance of the intelligence units follows a cycle. This is because intelligence is considered to be a process. This cycle begins at the planning and directing stage. The planning is supposed to ensure that all the world’s states are put into consideration. This phase involves the use of policy officials who mainly consist of a president and his aides. These come from different departments of the government including the members of the cabinet particularly in foreign and national security issues and staff of the National Security Council (NSC). This poses a problem in this phase because of work overload. Apart from their functions in this phase, they also have other responsibilities in their respective departments. This may reduce their commitment and efficiency. Another problem is the limited communication between the decision makers and the analyst resulting in uncoordinated activities.
The next phase is the collection phase. This involves collection of information by use of spies. This phase is faced with the challenge that the resources that the use has may not provide every bit of information about the terrorist. For example, the surveillance cameras they use cannot penetrate in to the hideouts of the al Qaeda and expose their plans. Another problem in this phase is communication barrier and lack of the ability to adapt to foreign culture. This is in the cases that spies need to gather information from the indigenous people. This phase is followed by the processing phase, which involves scrutinizing the information gathered to make it useful. This phase is however faced by the challenge that the U.S has insufficient translators, photo-interpreters, and code-breakers hence this is a major challenge to the intelligence communities. Next phase is the analysis where understanding is brought to the processed information. This involves having qualified people predict the next moves by the terrorists. This phase is also faced by a problem in that human forecasting is bound to be faulty at times. The cycle is finalized by the dissemination phase. In this phase the policy makers choose to utilize the information that has been gathered. The challenge here is first getting the attention these busy leaders who also have other responsibilities.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The U.S intelligence communities are important units in countering terrible attacks against the United States. They however are faced by various challenges that require thorough assessment in order to ensure that future attacks are controlled in advance. This would be best approached by making provisions for the problems faced during the intelligence process. This includes scrutinizing the problems with a greater meticulousness. Only precise data needs to be collected. The government can also arrange for updates on the terrorist threat assessment and intelligence needs to the administration. This will help the officials know what areas need more attention hence ensure efficiency. An effort should be made to acquire all necessary equipment to process gathered information. Efforts should also be made to have the spies well informed of the foreign languages of their terrorist as well as their history and culture.
References
Gray, D. H., & Slade, C. (2008). Applying the Intelligence Cycle Model to Counterterrorism Intelligence for Homeland Security. European Journal of Scientific Research, 24 (4), 498-519.
Loch, J. K. (2006). A Framework for Strengthening U.S. Intelligence. Yale Journal of International Affairs, 116-130.
Walsh, J. I. (2010). Emerging Transnational security Governance. New York: Routledge press.
