The Art of Missing Intelligence
L. Gordon Crovitz, The Wall Street Journal | January 5, 2009
Treating terrorism as a matter for domestic law enforcement risks undermining intelligence, as Abdulmutallab's failed attack made painfully clear. ++ US intelligence agents' ability to prevent attacks is strained by strict rules crafted for domestic law enforcement, such as the reasonable suspicion standard that prevented intelligence officers from putting Abdulmutallab on the ‘no-fly' list despite his father's warnings. ++ "If we continue to choose to limit how information can be used in our defense, we shouldn't be surprised when our defenses fail."
Tags: | domestic law enforcement |
intelligence |
Tue, Jan 5th 2010, 20:45
Member deleted
The primary task is to delegitimize terrorism. It already is considered an anti-political act, so the question of abusing some ideological platform does not really gell for the informed populace. Their appeal can be best directed at the ignorant or the ill-informed populace. Neither does religion permit terrorism. Looking at terrorism as common crime is more useful. That is where it finds its platforms and support bases. The confluence of crime-terror-entertainment-political networks often renders the problem intractable in many states. Those states are called hollow states. The confluence of educational institutions and the crime-terror networks are worrisome. Juvenile delinquencies again are breeding grounds of future criminals and terrorists. But the United States is not a criminal or a hollow state. The attempt by terrorists to infiltrate the civil society or even the state (as may be the case with the United States) is what is worrisome too. But having the clear ideas in place instead of hysteria (best used to infiltrate the system by the competing groups of HIV viruses-like terror networks that may be responding more to certain twisted geo-political logic) or paranoia is equally dangerous. Having a clear enunciation of rights and privileges of citizens, the risk groups, the environment or pond where these fishes breed and the modus of their infiltrating the civil society (donkey route or illegal human trafficking is the better example) helps in putting focus on and limiting activities of people under suspicion of terrorism. The donkey route by itself means a certain complicity at the state level. Hollow states like India would put people like me under the quarantining act! Intelligence can work when it is free of such a state and society. Thankfully, United States would still be considered quite free to certain extent of such viruses. Best likened to the HIV virus. Rest is history.