Introduction
The act amended sections of the homeland security Act of 2002 to include information sharing environment. It also amended sections of the intelligent reform and terrorism prevention act. The amendments were aimed at reviewing the definitions weapons of mass destruction, terrorism information, information sharing environment, and homeland security. It also formalized the recommendations based on the presidential information sharing guidelines. For instance, the development of fusion centers in urban areas and the development of a national network. In addition, the act require that DHS be established in states, local, and regional centers so as to create a partnership with the fusion centers in these regions.
According to the 9/11 commission report, there was a complete sweep of the security act of 1947 through its amendment and recommendations. It included additional duties that sought to intensify the security measures of the country. For instance, the office of the chief of Intelligence community and the director of Criminal Investigation Agency was assigned the duty of director of central intelligence. The intelligence reform and terrorism prevention act was enacted as a result of the 9/11 commission report. According to the enactment, there was creation of the office of director of national intelligence who served the role of overseeing and managing budget, planning, and policies. The scope of this role included both the international level and domestic level.
The commission made several recommendations aimed at improving the security and intelligence community. The main areas in which the recommendations focused on include measures aimed at protecting the country against terror, intelligence measures, and international policies for anti terrorism. The office of director of central intelligence was deleted. In its place, the act recommended the creation of the office of director of national intelligence which basically assumed two major roles. Firstly, the office is entitled to supervise all the security agencies operating within the country’s borders. This first role also requires the management of all the national security and intelligence program. The second duty of the office is supervise critical areas and issues of particular interest in all intelligence agencies.
The law on Implementing the 9/11 Commission Recommendations Act of 2007, also ensures that the director of the central intelligence agency becomes more vigilant in managing critical areas that fall under the office’s jurisdiction. For instance, the director of the central intelligence agency is expected to rebuild and emphasize on the analytical capability of the agency. In addition to this, the director is expected to be the key figure for transforming the agency’s operations and services in order to develop capabilities that foster the sharing of information within the agency and between various partnering agencies. The 9/11 commission report found errors in some of the critical programs of the central intelligence agency. For instance, the language standard was found to be compromising security and intelligence issues. It therefore recommended for an improvement in the language standard at the agency and called for a language standard that is strong. Additionally, the commission recommended that the program develops high standards of financial incentives.
The central intelligence agency operates in several countries and this requires the development of a recruitment program that focuses on diversity. Even though the program was in existence before, the recommendations of the commission ensures that the agency places more emphasis on the issue of diversifying the agency’s intelligence officers. This is in order for the officers to gain more acceptance and accommodation in foreign countries. Additionally, in implementing the recommendation of the commission, the central intelligence agency is expected to ensure a seamless and strong relationship between its personnel in order to improve its operations. The process of collecting signal is critical for its operations and it requires a seamless relationship between the personnel. There is need to have a balanced operation at the agency. This is also among the recommendation that the commission made for enactment.
The other advantage of the 9/11 commission report recommendation is that it emphasized on the department of defense to play a leading role in the security issue of the country. For instance, the department of defense is recommended to take a leading role in executing, directing and leading paramilitary operations. This is despite whether the operations are concealed. This was in an effort to consolidate and strengthen the capability of security measures in the country which include executing operations, training the personnel, and directing personnel. The Military has long been recognized for regimental structures of discipline and development. The primary focus of leader and leadership development in the military revolves around military leaders’ ability to provide command and control to units engaged in battle. Known as kinetic operations, military leaders learn to destroy the enemy to achieve mission success. However, long term success requires a military leader to win the hearts and minds of noncombatants; this is known as non-kinetic operations. When a military planner surveys a fight holistically, with both kinetic and non-kinetic operations in equal measure, psychological warfare becomes a valuable tool. Psychological warfare demands different leader and leadership development skills than those applied in kinetic operations. The lack of leadership development tailored to the specific developmental needs of non-kinetic operations officers engaged in psychological warfare creates increasing concern among senior military leaders that non-kinetic operations remain ineffective. The result is the increased use of civilian contractors to conduct information operations and Psychological Warfare, which effectively relegates non-kinetic operations officers to support roles. As witnessed in both Iraq and Afghanistan, civilian marketing firms took the lead in conducting information operations, largely due to the perception that their capabilities exceeded those of their military counterparts. Understanding this perceived lack of effectiveness of military information operations necessitates the exploration of non-kinetic operations officers’ leadership development.
Most of the security agencies that operate on regional and national levels did not have their financial expenditure in the public despite the fact that these agencies were directly funded by the federal government. In response to this issue, the commission has recommended a review of financial reporting by these government agencies. This is to be achieved through congress by passing legislation that ensure the agencies give a detailed account of the huge amount of funds that is allocated to them every financial year.
One of the critical recommendations provided for implementation was the need to improve on information sharing as this critical for intelligence services. Having a trusted information network is critical for the operation of intelligence services. It was recommended that the president plays a leading role in ensuring that related institutions of security are acting in accordance with the legal and technical provisions. Another critical recommendation was to develop an integrated approach into handling the issue of intelligence and security in the country. The approach requires a collaborative effort to be taken by various agencies and stakeholders including surveillance specialists, analysts, linguists, and security agents. All these stakeholders and agencies are expected to work under a strong culture of expertise in matters to do with national intelligence and security .
Because of the challenges that faced security and intelligence services, the 9/11 commission report made recommendations that focused on reforming the intelligence reform and terrorist prevention act. The intelligence community experienced a series of failures that lead to the need to develop reforms that will ensure the weak points are identified and prevented. The office of the director of national intelligence was established to ensure that the necessary reforms are created and implemented appropriately. Additionally, the reforms, which are based on evidence, are also focusing on modifying the organizational structure and management of the country’s intelligence community.
The primary goal for the creation of intelligence reform and terrorism prevention act was to address various issues related to intelligence information gathering in addition to disseminating the information to the appropriate partnering agencies dealing with intelligence and security. The 9/11 commission report made a total of nine recommendation to be implemented on the IRTPA. The first area was to create the office of the director of national intelligence
Conclusion
In conclusion the public law on implementing the 9/11 Commission Recommendations Act of 2007 has several benefits and challenges that have been discussed in this report. It also amended sections of the intelligent reform and terrorism prevention act. The amendments were aimed at reviewing the definitions weapons of mass destruction, terrorism information, information sharing environment, and homeland security. It also formalized the recommendations based on the presidential information sharing guidelines. The 9/11 commission report included additional recommendations that sought to intensify the security and intelligence measures of the country. For instance, the office of the chief of Intelligence community and the director of Criminal Investigation Agency was assigned the duty of director of central intelligence. The main areas in which the recommendations focused on in regards to national intelligence include measures aimed at protecting the country against terror, intelligence measures, and international policies for anti terrorism.
Reference
Hastedt, G. (2007). Foreign policy by commission: Reforming the intelligence community Intelligence and National Security. Volume 22, Issue 4, Pages 443 - 472.
National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States. (2007). The 9/11 Commission Report. Official Government Edition. Washington D.C: US Government printing office.
