Lisa Pauling

The Intelligence Community

The intelligence community plays a significant role in prosecuting the war on terror and implementing a string cycle of intelligence. The intelligence community comprises of 17 organizations involved in the investigation of foreign and domestic terrorism activities and provides the information to the state for prosecution of the wrongdoers. According to source, the intelligence community members are divided into four major categories, including intelligence agencies, military, civilian, and federal executive materials. Some members of the intelligence community are the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence (OICI), Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), and Federal Bureau of Investigation, National Security Branch (FBI/NSB) (Veroustraete, 2016). While members of the intelligence community have different functions, they equally contribute towards the successful arrest and prosecution of terrorists.

The intelligence community performs various activities to prosecute terrorists. Firstly, these organizations collect information regarding the activities of terrorist groups, for example their goals, membership, and operational plans. Noteworthy, these organizations collect intelligence information to help safeguard America from external attacks, particularly terrorist organizations in the Middle East region (Bury, & Chertoff, 2020). Moreover, the intelligence community conducts covert missions to capture terrorists from their hideout and bring them to justice, and ensure the disruption of their organizations. For example, the CIA played a significant role in identifying Osama bin Laden’s location resulting into his death on 2nd May 2011 at the hands of the American government. The intelligence community also conducts research into terrorist group and use the information to develop more effective strategies to overcome the threat against the nation (Sfetcu, 2019). As a result, the intelligence community has developed effective strategic responses to terrorism activities, for example infiltrating the dark web to identify suspicious individuals. Therefore, the US would face significant terrorism threats without the presence of the intelligence community.

Intelligence Cycle

Additionally, members of the intelligence community follow the intelligence cycle to fulfill their role in the war against terror. The intelligence cycle is a six step process. Firstly is planning and targeting, it is the process of identifying threats and determining the type of information needed to mitigate these problems. Secondly is the preparation and collecting process; it involves gathering raw information in terrorism activities. Next is processing and exploiting the information, which is followed by analyzing and producing the information for dissemination to other members of the intelligence community. The sixth step is evaluation and feedback of the information, where the intelligence community provides more information to promote the war on terror. Therefore, every party in the intelligence community participates in the intelligence cycle.

Furthermore, it is important to incorporate a Christian perspective on the role of the intelligence community. Proverbs 18:15 “The heart of the prudeth getteth knowledge; and the ear of the wise seeketh knowledge” (KJV, 2017). Thus, the intelligence community should continue gathering the latest information on terrorism activities to continue making progress in the war against terror. James 3:13 “Who is a wise man and endured with knowledge among you? Let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom” (KJV, 2017). Therefore, the importance of knowledge in the war against terror cannot be understated.