The 100 Day Plan - Assignment Example

Introduction: The 100 day plan is a group of initiatives developed by the department of national intelligence with the aim of and transforming the intelligence community. The plan is affiliated to six key transformative and integrative focus areas, namely; creating the culture of collaboration, fostering collection and analytic transformation, Leadership in technological acquisition and building, modernizing of business practices, accelerating the process of information sharing and clarification of the department of national intelligence authorities. This paper focuses on area number two of the 100 action day plan, and in particular initiative 2D in developing the essay. Question One: The September 9/11 attacks on America served as an impetus for the inclusion of this initiative in the 100 day action plan. This is because the American intelligence system was unable to communicate effectively in piecing up clues and leads that could prove crucial in stopping the hijacking of the planes, and hence stopping the attacks1.The reason of this failure by the intelligence community emanated from inefficient mechanism put in place for sharing intelligence information collected by different security organizations. There was also a gap in the domestic intelligence community of the state, and this ignited a debate on the need and importance of changing and improving the intelligence capabilities of the nation. There was a call from various stakeholders of the country’s security system, and members of the US senate and congress on the need to reform the way security organizations of the state shared information. On this basis, the attacks of the September 11 contributed significantly to the re-organization of the American intelligence community, and the development of Initiative 2 is part of the re-organization. The main purpose of this re-organization was to reduce the gaps in collecting domestic intelligence. The Federal government did this by creating several security organizations such as the Directorate of National Intelligence, and the Department of Homeland Security. By creating these organizations, the main aim of the reforms was to improve the manner in which intelligence information was gathered, and shared amongst American security organizations2. In initiative 2, its main objective is to develop strategies that will strengthen the collection of intelligent information, analyze it, and there after disseminate information to the relevant stakeholders for action. By doing this, the Federal government hoped that it will reduce the domestic intelligence gaps of the nation, and thus improve on its security. Another historical issue that led to the inclusion of this initiative in the plan is the cold war. The beginning of the cold war conflict between United States of America and the Soviet Union led to the structuring of the United States intelligence organizations. In 1947, there was the passage of the National Security act. This act led to the creation of the Central Intelligence Agency, mandated to spy on any organization that threatened the national interests of the United States of America. The act also unified the various departments of the American military force, and placed them under a single command, with a new department termed as the Department of Defense (DoD).It is due to the act that the American Government established the structure of the National Security Council. The reason of these radical changes in the American security sector was to enable effective gathering of intelligence data, and its dissemination3. Issues that deal with the organization of the intelligence community, sharing of intelligence data gathered, and the implementation of intelligence policies are the same problems the American government faces today. The development of initiative 2 was meant to solve these organizational and information sharing problems. This was by ensuring the integration of the information gathered by various organizations whose mandates are to collect and act on the same information .During the cold war era, efficient collection of intelligence information was a prerequisite for the safety of the Americans. This is because the government believed that it was vulnerable to a surprise and lethal attack. On this note, the best method of defense is to gather information prior to the attack. In the current time, the purpose of gathering intelligence information is to protect a state, and prevent an act of crime. For instance, the initiative develops mechanisms of gathering intelligence information from the country’s enemies, as a method of preventing attacks. The end of the cold war marked the beginning of other security needs such as the need to fight weapon proliferation, international crimes such as genocide, and terrorism. The telecommunication industry also developed, and was accessible to the private individuals. This has considerable implications on the manner in which intelligence is gathered, and shared amongst the various intelligence organizations4. Initiative 2A was developed under this context of Information Technology, and it provides a methodology in which the intelligence community can use this technology in their operations. Question 2: To counter the threat posed by an asymmetrical enemy, it is important to develop a fusion center. For instance, after the 9/11 attack on the in New York, the Pentagon and the State of Pennsylvania, the International Association of Police Chiefs created a fusion center in United States of America. The main aim of this center was to share criminal intelligence information gathered by various state agencies. Another aim of the center was to pool their resources together, financially and human personnel for purposes of effectively sharing criminal intelligence information, and as a result improving the security of their various states. This center aims at disseminating information for necessary action to the various agencies that might use it. On this note, collaboration by various intelligence organizations aims at coordinating, and organizing a response against terrorism and criminal activities in the target jurisdiction. This fusion center reduces gaps in the domestic intelligence gathering system, and increases efficiency in communication and the intelligence process5. For instance, the United States Federal Government has developed various frameworks whose purposes is to guide the various security agencies into establishing fusion centers, and intelligence information sharing. For instance, the United States Federal Government published the National Strategy for Information Sharing on October 2007. This initiative focuses on how to improve the review and sharing of information collected by the homeland department touching on terrorism. The Federal government aims to share this information with the State, local and tribal security agencies. This initiative also provides a guideline on how to protect the privacy rights of individuals during the process of gathering and collecting intelligence information. This initiative, gives a detailed description of the present information sharing methodologies, and the challenges facing fusion centers in sharing the intelligence information collected. Another initiative developed by the Federal government is the National Criminal Intelligence Sharing Plan. This initiative aims at building the intelligence capabilities of local law enforcement agencies through information sharing and gathering. It provides information on how to better develop and restructure their intelligence capabilities to match that of the Federal government, and thus protecting the various States from terrorism, and any criminal activity. The Federal Government also came up with a document whose main purpose was to give a guideline on how to create and manage the Fusion centers6. The document gives the importance of the fusion centers and amongst them includes; the maximization of the knowledge of potential terrorists, the target areas, and terrorism trends. An example of a successful fusion centers that counter the threats that emanate from an asymmetrical enemy is the Drug Trafficking Centre of the New York/ New Jersey states. Information relating to drug traffickers is analyzed and tracked by investigators. By pooling this data into a central location, proves to be a key contributor in successfully arresting and preventing drug trafficking in these states. 2b. Potential Initiatives: One of the potential initiatives in eliminating asymmetrical threat is to develop a framework that will guide the operations of the intelligence community in gathering information pertaining to the security of the American cyber space7. This is because enhancing cyber security is an important national and economic challenge facing the nation. There are a variety of threats that can emanate from a vulnerable information technology system of a state. For instance, Terrorist organization can infiltrate the security files of the state; and steal important security information and policies of a country8. It possess as an economic challenge because the information technology sector employs thousands of American citizens, contributing to the development of the nation’s GDP. On this note, developing a white paper on how to tackle challenges that arises from the countries cyber space and information technology sector is a procedure that falls under the 2B initiative. Strengths and Weaknesses: The initiative creates a policy that establishes a common standard of intelligence collection. Gathering information and integrating them in a single command for analysis and dissemination is an effective way of countering the threats that arise out of globalization. To effectively gather and share this information, it is important for the intelligence officers to apply a similar standard of gathering intelligence information. For instance, if the nation wants to gather intelligence information that will help to prevent a terrorist attack9, it is important to establish a policy/ standard that will guide the operations of the intelligence community in collecting, analyzing and disseminating the information under consideration. This is because the objectives and mission of terrorists are always similar, to spread terror. On this note, to effectively eliminate the threat, it is important to lay out a guideline that intelligence officers should use for such purposes. Setting up a policy that advocates for a rigorous and common standard of intelligence collection, analysis and dissemination increases the reliability of the information under consideration, and therefore reduces the gaps in the domestic intelligence system. States must apply a similar security standard that is vigorous and effective; initiating a policy that creates such a standard is a way to go. Another strong point of the initiative is that it encourages collaboration in intelligence gathering, analysis and dissemination. In the 21st century, nations face similar security threats because of globalization such as terrorism10. It is important for nations to collaborate for purposes of efficiently, and effectively eliminating the vice. To do these, Nations must collaborate with one another by sharing intelligence information under their possession, and acting on them. The initiative aims at ensuring that there is such kind of collaboration. One of the greatest weaknesses of the initiative is that it does not outline how the nation should create a policy that will ensure a common standard of intelligence information gathering, analysis and dissemination. It does not outline the processes of establishing these policies, and what to put into consideration while developing a policy that will ensure effective gathering of intelligence information. The initiative aims at developing trusts, encouraging collaborations, and developing skills. These aims are good, but the initiative just falls short of naming them without highlighting why it is important to encourage collaboration and develop skills and trusts. Conclusion: In conclusion, focus 2 of the 100 day plan concerns itself with the collection and analytic transformation of the intelligence information. Under Focus 2, there are six initiatives, namely 2A, 2B, 2C, 2D, 2E, and 2F .The main aim of initiative 2A was to develop a systemic analysis, and requirement for intelligence collection for purposes of tracking the information under consideration. Initiative 2B aims at providing an operational framework for intelligence information integration and analysis, while initiative 2C aims to address the challenges posed by development of information technology in the process of intelligence information collection, analysis and dissemination. Initiative 2D aims at establishing a policy that will guide the operations of the intelligence community, while initiative 2E concerns itself with the establishment and operations of the National Intelligence Priorities Framework. The aim of initiative 2F is to plan for the collection of intelligence information in hard targets, and how to analyze and use such information. On this note, Focus area 2, concerns itself with the collection, and analytic transformation of the operations of the intelligence community. Bibliography: Ball, Kirstie, and Kevin Haggerty.Routledge Handbook of Surveillance Studies. Hoboken: Taylor & Francis, 2012. Crumpton, Henry ..The art of intelligence: lessons from a life in the CIA's clandestine service. New York: Penguin Press, 2012. Grabo, Cynthia. Anticipating Suprise, analysis for Strategic Warning. Maryland: University Press of America, 2004. O' Hern, Steven.Intelligence Wars; Lessons From Baghdad. New York: Prometheus Books, 2008. Richelson, Jeffrey. The US intelligence community. 6th ed. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2012. United States Intelligence Community (IC) 100 Day Plan: Integration and Collaboration. Follow-up Report. Washington, DC: Office of the Director of National Intelligence, 2007. Top of Form Bottom of Form Read More