Building of Homeland Security and Intelligence against Terrorism.

ESLaPorte @ Yellow Stars

3 March 2007

Introduction. The American efforts at homeland security have been forced to undergo drastic changes since September 11th, 2001 attacks by the al-Qaeda terrorist network. The main transformation has been in America's intelligence community (IC), how intelligence is coordinated, used and especially shared, to meet the new need of preventing terrorist attacks on America's homeland. This paper uses the Bruce Hoffman and Jennifer Morrison-Taw framework (2000), which is focused on four main elements of successful counterterrorism policies and plans: legitimacy, collaboration, intelligence service coordination and a command and control structure. To defeat, deny, diminish and defend from the threat of terrorist attacks on the American Homeland, the United States is implementing an effective counterterrorism strategy based chiefly on intelligence community coordination and intelligence sharing. The good and most effective use of intelligence by America's intelligence community is key to winning the war against terrorism.

Purpose. The purpose of this paper is to use the Hoffman and Morrison-Taw framework to study national strategy documents and policy papers to study homeland security. The extensive study of post-September 11th activities to combat terrorism against the American Homeland from outside of the United States is beyond the scope of this paper. This paper looks at primarily counterterrorism in the American Homeland and building of institutions viewed through the lens of the Hoffman and Morrison-Taw framework. In doing so, this paper uses mainly documents from American government sources to study the emerging American counterterrorism framework. Recent documents, although not exhaustive, are used to focus on recent developments.

Theoretical Framework. The Hoffman and Morrison-Taw framework is a four-element framework for the study of successful counterterrorism plans in European counterterrorism efforts. The Europeans have had highly successful efforts, including cross border efforts, to combat terrorism with little threat to civil liberties and human rights in the context of European human rights' conventions. The four element study the creation of command and control structures, along with intelligence service coordination and collaboration between governments, there is the need for "legitimizing" and trust building measures for public support. Hoffman and Morrison-Taw have used their four-element methodology to study terrorism mainly in Europe from "red" groups during the Cold War.

"Legitimizing" measures are steps needed by the government to build public support and obtain legislation that takes into account public sensibilities. Undermining perceived legitimacy for terrorist actions can include such measures as making political concessions to religious minorities, address housing and employment concerns and redress grievances that may be exploited by terrorist groups. These help governments deprive terrorists the claim that they are the solution to the improvement for the population (Hoffman and Morrison-Taw 2000).

Hoffman and Morrison-Taw suggest that consistent policies are more effective than ad hoc, patchwork plans. Italy relied on mainly on legislative measures and gave fewer efforts to intelligence operations. The Italian Government's inconsistent policy response to the kidnapping operation perpetrated by the Red Brigades in the 1970's caused that government to be thrown into confusion, and the terrorists saw kidnapping as a good strategy. Sound and effective counterterrorism policy must be preventative and pre-emptive, argue Hoffman and Morrison-Taw. The trade-off is that there must be a balance between strong policy and good public relations. This not only includes effective legislation to combat terrorism, but also includes effective responses to the balance of civil liberties. Hoffman and Morrison-Taw argue that public relations must become a serious battleground against terrorists. Terrorists often seek to influence public policy and government actions, which make the terrorists' position, look like a better alternative. The government authorities must take the public relations and the building of public trust as seriously as any other struggle or war.

A nation facing a terrorist campaign is facing a struggle that is quite different from "normal" wars and violent conflict. Hoffman and Morrison-Taw point out experience of France in the mid-1990's was that of a different violent struggle. In the summer of 1995, terrorists planted nail bombs around Paris that killed several people and injured 180 people. Anti-terrorism laws were enacted and thousands of anti-terrorist police and soldiers were sent into the streets, but the bombings continued. The military power of the country was of no use once the terrorist campaign had "metastasized" to the disaffected Algerian youth. The original bombings were started by "professionals" and then carried on by youthful followers, even after the "professionals" were arrested.

The building of public trust is the key in a successful counterterrorism campaign. A populace that the public has a role in intelligence efforts and gaining public trust is key to effective intelligence efforts. Hoffman and Morrison-Taw argue that the appropriate use of intelligence and the establishment of coordination and dissemination of intelligence is key to the effective channeling of counterterrorism efforts. The use of effective intelligence and foreign collaboration was demonstrated in the first Gulf War against Iraq, where intelligence services from Europe, the Middle East, the United States, Syria and Israel took part in planned operations and attacks. The authors argue that any successful counterterrorism campaign will have three tasks: the acquisition, proper analysis, and coordination and dissemination of intelligence.

Another element of the Hoffman and Morrison-Taw framework is collaboration, especially foreign cooperation. The authors argue that the sporadic nature of foreign collaboration is due to the political, economic and diplomatic interests of nations that affect their abilities to cooperate in counterterrorism joint efforts. Often the individual differences between nations and regions can conflict, and, to some extent the personalities and relationships between leaders, police military and security personnel. While all campaigns can benefit from increased international cooperation in the form of aid and extradition agreements, different political cultures among nations can become problematic.

Homeland Security and Intelligence. The type of threat faced by the United States' homeland originates from outside the United States, whereas the cases studied with the Hoffman-Morrison-Taw framework were largely internal threats. The 9/11 Report documents that Usama bin Laden had been makings threats against the United States since 1992. Bin Laden uses messages that appeal to many in the Islamic world that is facing the modern world in the era of globalization. America is to blame for the decline of Islam and attacks on Muslims around the globe and America and the West should be resisted, and even converted to Islam. America and the West are societies are indecent and corrupt. The message of bin Laden appeals to frustrated young men in communities and societies that offer little in the way of satisfying their aspirations. Bin Laden's message that it is the duty of Islamic men to fight "Jews and Crusaders" is appealing to frustrated young men. These young men are then lead to kill themselves while killing others in the name of Usama bin Laden's vision of Islam. The pronouncements of Bin Laden are that there is no difference between those people in military uniform and those people who are civilians. The al-Qaeda movement spawned by bin Laden, responsible for the well-planned and organized September 11th, 2001 attacks, as well as other attacks - and the threat of future attacks - has caused the United States to realign homeland security to new post-Cold War paradigms in response (The 9/11 Commission 2004, Masse 2006).

The National Security Strategy of the United States that was released about a year after the September 11th, 2001 attacks states that "the distinction between domestic and foreign affairs is diminishing" (White House 2002:31). The "command and control structure" for the United States in the area of homeland counterterrorism is focused on cooperation in especially the IC between both "traditional" foreign intelligence and law enforcement intelligence, which traditionally focuses on criminal activity. The policy advocated for mainly intelligence efforts against terrorist threats to the American Homeland is one of decentralization. The decentralization of efforts is chiefly in the area of intelligence in homeland security intelligence (HSINT) in the bringing together traditional foreign intelligence with law enforcement criminal intelligence (Masse 2006).

The Director of National Intelligence (DNI) John Negroponte has declared that the bolstering of intelligence in support of homeland security is "enterprise objective number one" (qtd. in Masse 2006:5). The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (IRTPA) created the position of Director of National Intelligence, and its current occupant sees his office as having a mandate "to integrate the foreign, military and domestic dimensions of United States intelligence into an unified enterprise that meets the highest standards of objectivity, accuracy and timeliness" (U.S. Chamber of Commerce, July 2006:2). Disunity was viewed as the impetuous behind the creation of IRTPA. The job, or "tall order" that DNI Negroponte sees for himself and his colleagues is to "connect the dots and cross the foreign-domestic" divide and remove policy and technical obstacles to information sharing (U.S. Chamber of Commerce July 2006, "WMD Report" 31 March 2005).

DNI Negroponte has stated that the building of institutions remains primarily a federal-centric activity and refinement of the FBI's National Security Branch, the National Counterterrorism Center and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Intelligence Analysis. The domestic agenda, according to DNI Negroponte, involves providing a multidirectional flow through out the intelligence community, the U.S. government, law enforcement and the private sector (Masse 2006, U.S. Chamber of Commerce July 2006).

The National Strategy for Homeland Security is a policy document that is about command and control, and shares some aspects of collaboration. This document discusses the creation of the new Department of Homeland Security, DHS, as the focus of efforts to secure the American homeland from terrorist attacks. The DHS' 2004 strategic plan seeks to "gather and fuse together all terrorism related intelligence&ldots;" DHS 2004:10). The purposes of DHS is to participate in the deny and defend portion of Whitehouse strategy, as well as "organize collective efforts" at overlapping federal, state, and local levels, including "international partners" (53).

In many respects, intelligence network building is a part of command and control of American homeland counterterrorism strategy. In the aftermath of September 2001 attacks, the 2002 National Security Strategy (NSS) described the use of intelligence as the first line of defense against terrorists. The 2002 strategy called for seamless and integrated warning capabilities, new gathering methods, and the strengthening of the Director of Central Intelligence (DCI). The 2002 strategy also warned of the prospect of groups conducting terrorist attacks inside the United States, which means that there must be a fusion of information between law enforcement and the intelligence community. In this area the United States has declared that early warning of a terrorist attack is far more complex than the warning of a nuclear attack by the Soviet Union. The Office of Homeland Security's July 2002 strategy document states that the "concept of intelligence and information analysis is not a stand alone" concept but an integral component to protect the nation (p.16). Under the heading of "National Vision" the collection and use of intelligence information is considered the highest priority for Homeland Security (Office of Homeland Security, July 2002).

Since the NSS of 2002, the major focus of American "national vision" in counterterrorism efforts after 9/11 is in the area of intelligence, intelligence sharing and decentralization. In 2004, the IRTPA also created the DNI, the National Counterterrorism Center, the National Counter Proliferation Center and the National Intelligence Center. The National Counterterrorism Center is located within the Office of the DNI and is tasked as "the primary organization" in the United States for the analysis and integration of all intelligence acquired by the United States Government. The Director of the National Counterterrorism Center has the responsibility for the analysis of all sources of intelligence both inside and outside of the United States, except for purely domestic terrorism.

Todd Masse (2006) writes that there are three models under consideration for homeland security intelligence strategy. The first is that "top-down" approach that is federally driven and dominated by the traditional intelligence, which is mainly foreign intelligence. The second model is the "bottom up" approach, which is based on the criminal intelligence model of assessing local environments for threats against national security. The third model, which is advocated for DHS, is the more decentralized structure where information is shared more widely and there is more coordination between law enforcement and traditional intelligence actors. The holistic model is not geographically bounded, constrained by levels of government, or the imagined mistrust between government and private sectors. Masse refers to this model as the "holistic" approach, as this model "recognizes no borders and is neither 'top down' nor "bottom up." It involves and values equally information collected but the U.S. private sector owners of national critical infrastructure, intelligence related to national security collected by federal, state, local, tribal law enforcement officers" (4).

The building of collaboration for the United States involves the identification of the enemy as opposing and attacking the values of the United States and its allies. Al-Qaeda is viewed as a religiously motivated, transnational enemy that views Western democracy as worthy of suicidal violence, as discussed above. The method of the enemy is also important, as the United States views this the starting point to build collaboration, both inside the American homeland and with other nations. In the stated goals to defeat, deny, diminish and defend with regard to terrorism and terrorist groups, the United States seeks cooperation with partners, allies and international organizations (The White House, February 2003).

The "building of collaboration" for the United States framed as the building of mainly intelligence networks overseas to detect and deny terrorist groups the ability to attack the American Homeland. The IRTPA, consistent with the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 3927) the DNI "shall coordinate the relationships between elements of the intelligence or security services of foreign governments or international organizations on all matters involving intelligence related to the national security or involving intelligence acquired through clandestine means" (sec. 104a, f). The DHS in its 2004 strategic plan has declared that it is willing to involve "international partners" is the disruption and denying international terrorist organizations. Page 53 declares, "America will pursue a sustained, steadfast and systematic international agenda to counter the global terrorist threat and improve our homeland security."

Much of the United States' legitimizing of American counterterrorism policy and actions are aimed as foreign audiences. For the United States, the legitimizing and building of public trust is largely for a foreign audience. According to the 2002 National Security Strategy, "we &ldots;need a different and more comprehensive approach to public information efforts that can help people around the world learn more and understand America. The war is on terrorism is not a clash of civilizations" (The White House 2002:31).

As part of the domestic institutional building agenda, DNI Negroponte pointed out that the building of intelligence institutions and information sharing must be done without damaging the "fabric and values of our political culture." In the necessary work to bring together intelligence, Negroponte states must include protecting privacy and civil liberties. There is a need, according to Negroponte; to amend rules, policies and processes to civil liberties and it is up to Civil Liberties Protection Officer (CLPO) to alert the DNI. (U.S. Chamber of Commerce July 2006, Intelligence Act P.L. 108-458 2004).

The CLPO was created in the Intelligence Reform Act of 2004 and is "to ensure that the protection of civil liberties and privacy is appropriately incorporated in the policies and procedures" (P.L. 108-458 § 103D b.1), which also includes an overseer role of the DNI to the requirements of the Constitution, privacy and civil liberties. Further protection goals include the prevention of the erosion of privacy protections through the use of technology and to insure that personal information in the system of records are subject to the Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. § 522a). The CPLO can refer complaints to the Office of the Inspector General of the department or agency of the appropriate intelligence community.

The first guiding principle in DHS's Strategic Plan is about civil liberties:

"We will defend America while protecting the freedoms that define America. Our strategies and actions will be consistent with the individual rights and liberties enshrined by our Constitution and the Rule of Law. While we seek to improve the way we collect and share information about terrorists, we will nevertheless be vigilant in respecting the confidentiality and protecting the privacy of our citizens. We are committed to securing our nation while protecting civil rights and civil liberties."

Analysis. The DHS's strategic plan, entitled "Securing Our Homeland" of 2004, appears to be primarily a public relations document of "we wills" alongside nice pictures of counterterrorism and law enforcement activities. The DHS is also looking for cooperation with the public, as well as with building cultural and institutional cooperation with the elements of the IC. In the Hoffman and Morrison-Taw framework, which refers mainly to domestic political terrorism, the building of public trust in democracies involves building measures that do not attack the public at large or innocent people that have nothing to do with terrorism.

An well-known example of innocent people getting caught in a type of terrorist drag net that has degraded the public legitimacy in America's counterterrorism efforts is with "no fly" lists that are supposed to keep terrorists off of flights or out of the United States. The "no-fly" lists are becoming the butt of jokes as those deemed a "threat to aviation" has included a Catholic nun that works for a federal agency and babies and young children and Congressmen or their relatives, including Senator Ted Kennedy, have been kept from boarding airliners. The main cause of travelers being placed on "no fly" lists is name confusion with terrorist suspects using aliases. The "no fly" lists have been trouble for the airlines, and false "hits" have caused airliners to be diverted. The checks of names against the watch lists are not completed until the plane is in the air (Wired News, 26 September 2005, Associated Press 16 August 2005, CBS News 19 August 2004, Washington Post 25 May 2005).

While there are a lot of statements from officials, like DNI John Negroponte regarding the protection of civil liberties, the "no fly" lists, the lack of due process or openly stating the criteria a traveler ends up on such a list, demonstrates what happens when there is a failure to advance liberty along with security - which keeps public trust high. Such measures also create public resentment, according to Hoffman and Morrison-Taw "measures directed at terrorists often become focused on the population at large, and the government must spend precious recourses courting the public, having already alienated it" (2000:14). According to Esther Brimmer (2006) homeland security also involves the protection of civil liberties and the preservation of the character of the values we seek to defend.

There is also, according to Daniel Hamilton (2006), the perception in the international community of legitimacy and trust in America's war on terrorism. The abuses at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay, according to Hamilton, have shaken confidence in the American administration, and this has lead to a loss of legitimacy and effectiveness of for the anti-terrorism campaign. Hamilton argues that the nature of terrorism is such that maintaining the appearance of justice and democratic legitimacy is more important than in "routine" wars. Hamilton also argues that ad hoc measures that are void of our societal values and defined legal proceedings provide little in the way of long-term cooperation with other parts of the international community. The view offered by Hoffman-Morrison-Taw is that foreign assistance and collaboration can be helpful, but it can be very critical in obtaining intelligence, legal assistance agreements and where terrorist groups plan attacks outside the target nation. Whether the perceptions are real or exaggerated, the erode trust in America's commitment to values and cause a loss in the effectiveness in the war on terrorism. (Hoffman and Morrison-Taw 2000, Hamilton 2006).

Hoffman-Morrison-Taw believe that the creation of a command and coordination structure, a unified structure to carry out counterterrorism plans and policies. The authors point out at length that such a structure can help in the efficient use of intelligence, and intelligence should be centralized:

"Intelligence should be centralized, so that a single office functions as a clearing house for the collation, analysis and effective dissemination of all intelligence. [W]hatever command and control structure is implanted at the federal levels of government should be reproduced throughout the sub-federal levels of government, so&ldots;intelligence-gathering organizations&ldots;are represented at every level" (Hoffman and Morrison-Taw 2000:12).

Prior to September 2001, the successful prosecution of the first attack on the World Trade Center including uncovering evidence of a growing threat against America. The investigators and prosecutors had assembled people, places and things about the attack, including a plot to bomb New York landmarks, such as the Holland and Lincoln tunnels. The impression left by the superb efforts of those involved in the prosecution of the first attack on the World Trade center was that the crime was solved and those responsible were found guilty. Justice was served and that was the end of the story. The purpose of the law enforcement efforts in this case were to prove the guilt of those arrested and charged with crimes, not conduct intelligence analysis. This process was not intended to reflect upon the new threat to the security of the United States (The 9/11 Commission 2004). The evidence collected for prosecution, methods of planning and finance, according to the 9/11 Report, contained a set of harbingers of the next attack on the World Trade Center.

The Office of National Counterterrorism Center and its director have the stated mission goals of collecting and analyzing all information of possible terrorist threats against the United States. The 9/11 Report called for the "unity of effort" in managing intelligence with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to oversee national intelligence centers. The 9/11 Report also recommended a balance between security and shared knowledge, much of which is part of IC culture, and should be replaced with a "need to share" culture of integration.

A slightly different view is shared in the Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States on the IC's "traditional" culture. The WMD Report advocates the retention of the different agency culture style, as this creates competition among the agencies in the testing of intelligence hypotheses creates "diverse pockets of expertise" (312). The report states that successes can be attributed to ad hoc efforts, but mainly cross agency efforts. While the advantages of single agency efforts should be retained, the WMD Report also advocates the building of a coordinated intelligence community ("WMD Report" 31 March 2005).

Homeland security directors stated in a 2006 survey that there is a need for greater federal coordination with the states on policies and rulemaking. The state directors feel that they are not given representation and complain "broad state input" is from a few hand selected state officials, and even then, the input from those selected officials is often ignored. The survey also indicated that 70% of homeland security directors regarded the creation of a state intelligence fusion center a top priority, and 20% have implemented federal guidelines. Over half of the homeland security directors were somewhat dissatisfied with the intelligence that they receive from the federal government and 55 percent were dissatisfied with the quality of the intelligence they receive from the federal government. The majority of state homeland security directors did report that they have strategic plans and have coordinated response plans with local first responders in the event of terrorism (NGA Center 2006, Washington Post 2006).

An article from the law enforcement site, Officer.com, indicates that some real progress is occurring with the intelligence fusion centers. While admitting that the building of cooperation and stronger relationships among federal, state and local agencies takes time, the connections and innovations are being made at a good pace. An example is the Terrorism Early Warning Group in Los Angeles, which is a multidisciplinary fusion center that disseminates information, facilitates information sharing, and bolsters terrorism prevention and response capabilities. This local fusion center works with all levels of government, notably the state fusion center. In a couple of years the efforts will pay off in the form of a seamless exchange of intelligence information (Officer.com 6 November 2006).

Conclusion. Despite the claims of problems with the development of intelligence sharing within the IC, the article from Officer.com is an encouraging sign. The change of the current culture toward more sharing of intelligence information is a process that requires time and efforts. The success of the local fusion center in California could be the positive tread toward a culture of information sharing and "target development." A future concern could be for the preservation of civil liberties and privacy in the area of "target development." The concern for civil liberties, as stated by John Negroponte, should be just more than an afterthought in the emerging American counterterrorism paradigm.

Hoffman and Morrison-Taw pointed out that the best counterterrorism policies for a democratic society is to place the protection of civil liberties first and build the trust of the public. There appears that no action or the wrong kind of action taken to involve foreign collaboration in the protection of America's homeland. The trust of America's allies should also be built and American should rectify perceived violations of international norms. The State Department, which is mentioned as having a valuable role in America's national security policy documents, should have a more out-in-front role in building relationships with foreign governments that are aimed at American Homeland security.

The celebration of civil liberties by DNI John Negroponte and DHS should be taken more seriously. The "no fly" lists are an excellent example of an ad hoc program that appears to place little concern for the civil liberties of the public, especially the civil liberties of the vast majority who have the misfortune of being placed on the lists. The "no fly" lists, which are supposedly are intended to keep terrorists off of airplanes, appear to hurt innocent people more than catch real terrorists. The most important policy of a successful counterterrorism strategy is to create and use policies that do not seek repressive measures against the wide swath of the public that serve only to destroy the public trust. The wide spread stories of nuns, babies and a well-known U.S Senator being subject to "no fly" lists also gives victory to those that seek the disruption of democratic values and the freedom of movement that mark a free society.

The use of better and more coordinated actionable intelligence to track people and groups that pose a real danger will enable the problematic and faulty "no fly" lists to become obsolete. If a threatening person or group is present in the United States, then the threat should be well known and action taken long before an operative attempts to board an airliner. Well-coordinated and actionable intelligence is necessary to maintain our free society, civil liberties and to avoid hurting innocent people, while at the same time capturing the real terrorists. .

 *Final note: This was a class research paper that will be used in the future to create frameworks to study the differences between European and American conceptions human rights, human dignity, data protection in the areas of policing and security. A good paper on the differences between the Us and Europe on human rights and justice - European Versus American Liberty: A Comparative Privacy Analysis of Anti-Terrorism Data-Mining.

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