INTELLIGENCE FAILURE

Factors Contributing to the Intelligence Failure of 9/11

Abstract

The world had never before witnessed a terrorist event as tragic as the attacks of 9/11. Millions of people lost their lives and millions of others were left in everlasting misery and misfortune. The world has been terrified in the literal sense. The echoes of terror and fear are still audible, even after years have passed after the incident.

Table of Contents

Abstractii

Introduction1

Discussion1

Failure of Intelligence Agency1

Prevention of Future Attacks4

Conclusion5

References6

Factors Contributing to the Intelligence Failure of 9/11

Introduction

The event of 9/11 has been left the impact for all over the rest of the life. This event has a great and huge importance on the history of the America as well for entire world. Many believe there were several causes which led to this attack. Some even blame that the US has only itself to blame for its failure to stop 9/11.

Discussion

The attacks of 9/11 taught invaluable lessons to the states of the world regarding their security and safety against terrorism. The governments of all developed countries felt threats from the under developed and developing countries, which are considered as breeding grounds for terrorist activities. These countries availed the services of analysts and concerned officials of homeland security to devise technologies and processes for counter-acting terrorist attempts in the future. The use of new processes and procedures for anti-terrorism were devised and tested. It was believed that a system wide approach was necessary to combat terrorism in the face.

Failure of Intelligence Agency

The US has only itself to blame for its failure to stop 9/11. The failure intelligence agency and organizational structure of the law enforcement bureaus of the US are to be blamed for such attacks. Many writers blame the withholding of crucial information by the FBI and the CIA for these attacks. These agencies held information such as the identity of the hijackers and the fact that they were residing in US for many years before the attacks. Wright (2006) points in his book “The Looming Tower” that there are a range of reasons for this lack of cooperation, from agency rivalry, personality conflicts to a fear of losing intelligence and future recruits to a criminal investigation.

Betts (2007) agree with this contention, pointing to the organizational fragmentation of American law enforcement agencies which cause an area like counter terrorism to cut across the mandates of many agencies, such as the NSA, CIA, FBI, FAA and Customs and Immigration services, just to name a few. They point out that these agencies tend to be divided by organizational, cultural and procedural differences, as well as bureau-political rivalries, which all impede the sharing of information. They also identify heavy workloads within these organizations and a fear of crying wolf as another cause for the withholding of vital information.

Betts (2007) identified other factors contributing to the failure to prevent 9/11 that were not covered by Wright in The Looming Tower. He argue that the lack of hijacking in the years leading up to 9/11 produced an overvaluation and ...