Assignment:
Question 1
(Boston Globe, 24APR13): A federal audit ... warned there was a "high risk" that the government's information-sharing system would not prevent a terror attack, raising questions about whether a communications breakdown allowed the Boston Marathon bomb plot to evolve undetected and its perpetrators to elude quick capture.
US officials disclosed that the CIA had placed Tamerlan Tsarnaev on a terrorism watch list several months after the FBI had placed him on a different watch list. Both actions were based on separate alerts provided by Russian authorities, but they failed to help the United States recognize and intervene to head off the threat or identify Tsarnaev as a suspect once the bombs went off. The Common wealth Fusion Center is located in Maynard, Mass.... The Massachusetts State Police did not respond to questions about whether the center was alerted to the FBI's concerns about Tsarnaev.
Is this information-sharing mix-up an isolated event or could there be other instances? If so, what would be the first step in "tightening up" Fusion Centers?
Question 2
After reviewing the capabilities and limitations of the different INTs, do the following:
- Select a Homeland Security issue (terrorism, drugs, human trafficking, counterfeiting, counterintelligence, or another) that is important today.
- Briefly explain which INT is most relevant to this issue, and how the capabilities of that INT are related to the Cold War history.
Remember to cite your sources and provide a list of references.