Assignment:
Case
The History, Role, Function, and Organization of the U.S. Intelligence Community
Assignment Overview
The Use of Multiple INTs
According to General James Clapper, the Director of National Intelligence as of July 2013, the U.S. has relied heavily on the use of SIGINT for the identification and disruption of terrorist plots against the U.S. In a July 2013 interview, he said:
Director Clapper: Well, two cases that come to mind [in which SIGINT disrupted the terrorist plots], which are a little dated, but I think in the interest of this discourse, should be shared with the American people, they both occurred in 2009, one was the aborted plot to bomb the subway in New York City in the fall of 2009.
And this all started with a communication from Pakistan to a U.S. person in Colorado. And that led to the identification of a cell in New York City who was bent on a major explosion, bombing of the New York City subway. And a cell was rolled up and in their apartment we found backpacks with bombs.
A second example, also occurring in 2009, involved one of those involved, the perpetrators of the Mumbai bombing in India, David Headly. And we aborted a plot against a Danish news publisher based on the same kind of information.
So those are two specific cases of uncovering plots through this mechanism that prevented terrorist attacks.
Clearly, the national intelligence capabilities exceed only our SIGINT capabilities.
Case Assignment
In this case, your task is to:
1. Summarize the use and capabilities of 3 other INTs that would have been important in identifying or confirming one of these terrorist threats against the U.S. and allies
2. Explain specific types of information that each of the 3 INTs is capable of collecting.
3. Explain the limitations of each of the INTs - what they cannot be expected to reliably collect.
4. Summarize the steps needed to analyze information across the INTs.
5. Briefly describe the gap between the collection capabilities of the Intelligence Community and the analysis capabilities, and propose reasons for why the IC has consistently been able to prevent the gap exposing the U.S. to terrorist threats.
6. Properly cite your quotations that you use to support your statements. For more information, please consult the Purdue University OWL: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/
Module - SLP
The History, Role, Function, and Organization of the U.S. Intelligence Community
NOTE: Session Long Projects 1 through 4 are concerned with the scenario outlined in the Module 1 SLP. Please review that basic information before proceeding. Each module's Session Long Project builds upon the previous ones.
For the SLPs in this course, your assignments will be based on a scenario in which you have been assigned as a Terrorism Liaison Officer (TLO) at a local police or fire department. You may pick which city will apply in your SLPs. As the TLO, you will have a lot of duties, in addition to your regular duties. Among the additional duties:
1. The TLO primary function is to help line staff identify terrorism related situations and share intelligence related to terrorist activity.
2. TLOs serve as the point-of-contact within their agencies for questions and information regarding terrorism, and terrorism-related tips and leads.
3. In most cases the TLO position is a collateral duty. TLOs shall not independently investigate tips or leads unless directed to do so by the proper authorities i.e. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF), Fusion Center, etc., and stay within the responsibilities of their assigned duties.
4. A TLO is to have a working relationship with the local Regional Terrorism Threat Assessment Center (RTTAC), designated Intelligence Center and JTTF, to help facilitate the movement of terror related information to and from field personnel.
5. A TLO shall disseminate terrorism-related information and intelligence to personnel within their agencies' in an efficient and lawful manner. TLOs are responsible for verifying that all personnel with whom they share terrorism-related information have a valid need- and right-to-know the information.
6. TLO s are responsible for educating personnel within their agencies' regarding the procedure(s) for submitting tips and leads to the proper investigative authorities. For purposes of efficiency, it is not ideal for TLOs to function as the collection point for tips and leads.
7. TLOs are encouraged to pursue advanced level Homeland Security training courses as recommended and provided by their respective RTTAC.
8. The TLO should be flexible to fulfill other expectations and/or functions that may be determined by each individual RTTAC
As the assigned TLO, your first duties are to:
Examine the relevant priorities for your local department, and develop a background paper on the different INTs for your Captain:
1. Identify the city you represent, and some of the major problems with which you are confronted.
2. Briefly describe the capabilities of the intelligence community.
3. Highlight 3 problems on which you can expect assistance from the IC and 3 you will not.
4. Explain what information you are likely to receive for the above.
5. Explain the limitations on who will have access to the information, and why security control is important.
6. Explain how the capabilities of the IC are related to the national focus on the Cold War.
7. Identify 2 gaps in your needs that you can advocate to the IC.
8. Provide quotation(s) to support your response.'
Required Reading
Chesney, R. (2012). Military-intelligence convergence and the law of the title 10/title 50 debate. Journal of National Security Law & Policy. 14(1-19), 539-628.
CIA. (2008). Abbreviations and acronyms.
Federation of American Scientists (1996). The evolution of the U.S. intelligence community: An historical overview.
Heidenrich, J.G. (2008) the state of strategic intelligence: The intelligence community's neglect of strategic intelligence.
Office of the Director of National Intelligence (2009). U.S. defense intelligence strategy, 2009.
Required Websites
Members of the IC
Military Intelligence Professional Bulletin