Literal Intelligence Collection

Literal Intelligence Collection: National Intelligence and the NSA wireless intercept program Intelligence Collection: Sources and Challenges February 13, 2012 In the aftermath of 9/11 the intelligence community (IC) felt pressure from all directions. Employees of the IC, Congress, and the general public wanted questions answered as to why our nation didn’t know an attack was imminent. This â€Å"failure† of intelligence caused a shake up within the entire IC, leading to many future changes. One such change was in communications intelligence (COMINT) collection.According to Cummings (2006), â€Å"President George W. Bush said that he authorized NSA to intercept the international communications of people with known links to al Qaeda and related terrorist organizations in the weeks following the September 11th terrorist attacks† (p. 6). The President’s decision had many repercussions. I will discuss the parameters of the decision, the management issues assoc iated with it that lead to such controversy, and the impact it had on national intelligence and the NSA.What led to this drastic decision by the U. S. President? The United States was blind-sighted in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack which resulted in the death of 2,977 innocent Americans. This was the largest attack in the history of the U. S. on our soil and although the signs were there for the intelligence community to see, it was mistakenly not put together. Much of the attack stemmed from communications between terrorist or those connected and working with terrorist within our Country, and this was unacceptable.In order to defend against such communications, according to Lichtblau & Risen (2005), â€Å"Under a presidential order signed in 2002, the intelligence agency has monitored the international telephone calls and international e-mail messages of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people inside the United States without warrants over the past three years in an ef fort to track possible ‘dirty numbers’ linked to Al Qaeda, the officials said. The agency, they said, still seeks warrants to monitor entirely domestic communications†.The sole purpose of the NSA program was to safeguard our national security in a more expansive, efficient manner. The center on law and security (2007) states â€Å"†¦this requirement to demonstrate all of the substantive and procedural elements of FISA to the Attorney General's satisfaction before any surveillance can begin, would fatally impair the President's ability to carry out his constitutional responsibility to collect foreign intelligence to protect our Nation from attack† (p. 9).Any implementation involving citizen’s privacy is assured to draw controversy, and the root of the problem with this program was a management issue. The President, DCI, and the Director of the NSA should have informed the head of the Senate Select and Congressional oversight committees with a mor e in depth understanding of the changes and the secrecy. A plan should have been in place to deal with leaks to the public of the changes, and a more detailed description of the amendment to the policy should have been created and kept under lock and key.Intelligence collection involves many activities that citizens (lacking all of the facts), may deem unconstitutional. The problem with this is most of the time the facts are not available to the general population, media, and even certain members of the Congressional oversight committees, for fear of an operation leak. Much of what the IC does must remain secret, at least until the aftermath (which could be years later). In regards to the topic at hand, authorization of warrantless wireless intercept by the NSA, the main problem arose due to management failures in the implementation of such a controversial topic.The center on law and security (2007) states, â€Å"Critics of the NSA program do not necessarily object to the type of s urveillance, but rather to the way in which it has been authorized, and to the absence of any oversight† (p. 10). The Congressional oversight committees serve as a checks and balance to the IC and the President informed the heads of the committees (Gang of Eight) of his plan to authorize wireless intercepts on Americans. Cummings (2006) states, â€Å"†¦the executive branch had limited its briefings of the legislative branch to the Gang of Eight.They further asserted that the executive branch had prohibited them from sharing any information about the program with congressional colleagues† (p. 7). In the aftermath, it seems the Gang of Eight did not understand the necessity of secrecy behind this information. The President should have explained the reasoning behind the secrecy and why the information was limited to the Gang of Eight. If the Gang of Eight understood the parameters and restrictions in place, they could better defend the plan when future problems arose. Preparations hould have been in place for dealing with the public if and when the time came that the media caught wind of the wireless intercept. At some point the President should expect that the public would have to be addressed with some details defending his actions. There should have been regulations in place, describing the limits the NSA still had to endure when it came to U. S. citizens. When reports came out in 2005, there was much confusion as to what exactly the President had authorized, and if there were limits in place for the NSA. A failure to properly address the issue allowed the media to run wild with stories, further outraging critics.Silence and secrecy only added to the problem of distrust of the IC. In preparation, President Bush should have had a detailed description of the amendment to the policy, with restrictions still in place for the NSA. This policy should have been dated at the time it went into effect, signed by the President, the DCI, the Director of NSA and the Gang of Eight and kept in the possession of the Director of the NSA. Having a signed document would serve the future purpose of showing there was knowledge of the parameters of the amended policy.If this policy had to become public (open source) at some point, it would hopefully show that Management had made an organized effort of implementing change and involved as many officials as possible under the current circumstances. The National Security Agency (NSA) has the task of protecting U. S. national security systems through the use of signal intelligence (SIGINT), to include COMINT. Prior to the President giving authorization to warrantless domestic eavesdropping following 9/11, the NSA had to obtain a court approved warrant in order to eavesdrop on a U.S. citizen’s communications, otherwise known as a FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) warrant. According to the center on law and security (2007) â€Å"FISA warrants require ‘probable cause’ to suspect that an individual is acting either for a ‘foreign power’ (including terrorist organizations) or as an ‘agent of a foreign power,’ a target (a cell phone, a computer, a BlackBerry, or a landline phone, for example), and that foreign intelligence be a ‘significant purpose’ of the warrant† (p. ). NSA is no stranger to negative public perception regarding their unconstitutional practices. This wireless intercept program put the agency’s reputation at stake once again. Reports of the NSA having access to most American’s phone records detailing their calls and communications is cause for concern for critics. Due to a lack of proper implementation, notifications and opportunity for oversight, the NSA and the IC has to climb another uphill battle to win back the trust of Americans.Dilanian (2011) states, â€Å"U. S. intelligence officials insist that the new surveillance powers have been crucial to stopping terrorist p lots†. Hopefully, some of the more recent successes in the community can erase the impact of failures and the intelligence community can improve their reputation once again. References Cummings, Alfred (2006). Statutory procedures under which Congress is to be informed of U. S. intelligence activities, including covert actions: NSA domestic surveillance.Congressional Research Service Dilanian, Ken (2011). 9/11, ten years after, more surveillance; A legacy of watchful eyes; The government eavesdrops on U. S. citizens as never before. Los Angeles Times Aug 30, 2011. Tuesday Home Edition. Lichtblau, E. & Risen, J. (2005). Bush lets U. S. spy on callers without courts. The New York Times, Dec 16, 2005. doi: 942423341 The Center on Law and Security at the NYU school of Law (2007). The NSA wiretapping program. For The Record, 1(Jan) 1-16.

Monkey trial

Monkey Trial offers imminent into American history topics with regional differences, community standards in developing teaching programs, the division of church and state, freedom of speech, the legal system, and the media's impact on court cases, the reasons for individual or regional economic success, great speeches and the art of speech. On the second day of Kansas' mock trial of evolution, Kathy Martin produced a moment to remember. Martin a member of Kansas' Board of Education and part of a 6-4 majority that appears dead set on varying state standards so the creationist theory of intellectual design, and perhaps other religious ideas, can be educated in science classes along with development. Martin and her creationist contemporaries are set to make a report lately issued by scientists and educators on Kansas' curriculum committee, which wants to keep the state's solid science standards intact. But Martin had trouble even clearing just what she hates about the existing standards. Martin, did not really read the program committee's report, nor does she think such inspection is essential. â€Å"Please don't feel bad that you haven't read the whole thing, because I haven't   Ã‚   read it myself.† (Martin) To clarify, Martin later explained: â€Å"I'm not a word-for-word reader in this kind    of technical information.† (Martin) So it went at Kansas' development hearings, which finished Thursday, a Board of Education event where an existing understanding of all that irritating technological information implicated in science was in fact measured unnecessary to reach a decision on evolution. Nonetheless, having staged its complicated mock trial, inclusive with indication and cross-examination, the board is likely to approve by August new guidelines that many feel will allow religious views to be a part of science education. Fearing the fix was by now in for creationism, scientists around the world stick to a KCFS-organized boycott of the event, regarding it as a publicity stunt concocted by officials. The Trial started in Topeka and the Topeka civil rights lawyer Pedro Irigonegaray, who finished matters with a presentation stressing the religious underpinnings of clever design — the modern version of the 19th century disagreement that life is too composite to have developed incrementally from easy forms. Krebs, a science teacher who co-founded Kansas Citizens for Science like others around the country who have stood up for evolution in recent years, regards the present creationist obsession on intelligent design as a lodge, planned to open the door to the opening of a wide range of creationist ideas in science classrooms. For that matter, he also views the complete struggle over development as only a lodge in the religious right's efforts to tear down the constitutional wall between church and state. Indeed, while the battle over development is not essentially fought along severe party lines, it holds many of the familiar dynamics of modern American party politics. Evolution's supporter feels they have the facts on their side but confess they resist with satisfaction within their electorate. The pro-evolution forces also admit they must catch up to creationists in organization and strategy, in order to combat a well-funded, aggressive opposition with a liking for slick sound bites, message discipline, and a current strategy of cloaking radical aims in innocuous-sounding rhetoric. More than everything else, the environment of the struggle in Kansas reveals how much creationist strategy have changed since the state's 1999 anti-evolution episode. Now as then, the driving force behind the creationists is Steve Abrams, a veterinarian, former Kansas gubernatorial candidate, one-time chairman of the state Republican Party, and current chairman of the Board of Education. In 1999, however, Abrams and his allies supported a version of creationism heavily reliant on the biblical creation stories in the book of Genesis. By contrast, for this month's hearings, the Board of Education brought in a long string of advocates of intelligent design, who argued that standard evolutionary biology is based on incomplete evidence and that some sort of designer must have been at work to develop life. Bibliography In Kansas, A Sharp Debate on Evolution Educators Consider Intelligent Design By Peter Slevin Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, May 6, 2005; Page A01 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/05/AR2005050501927.html

Recyclng Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Recyclng - Research Paper Example Recycling of water is an important factor for using the water continuously. This works best for the countries which are landlocked. The role of recycling paper is to decrease the amount of trees being chopped down for paper. Deforestation is a genuine worldwide issue as trees not just furnish oxygen; they also take in and ingest carbon dioxide. When a tree is chopped down, all the carbon dioxide that it has is discharged into the environment and donated to the nursery gases. The effect of recycling paper is that it might be made into different things, for instance, the paper that has been recycled could be transformed into another item like a pencil case, and so forth. The science in recycling paper is that the paper is changed over back in its crude materials. It goes from a finalized feature to its crude materials to either make something of new or of less worth (less value paper). It utilizes chemicals and water to disintegrate the paper into a stringy mash, which is transformed i nto paper again. Recycling of paper is utilized to tackle the worldwide issue of deforestation which has led to cutting down of forests that is potentially harmful for human beings in future (Anderson, 2003). Recycling has several benefits for the society and the community as a whole. Recycling has been part of the green drive, which is popular among the youth these days because of broad communications and promotion. There is a ton of social mindfulness about nature's turf and a standout amongst the most well-known people who are assisting the earth towards recycling. Recycling is almost always lectured encompassing the planet. It is currently a standard practice and a social standard. Due to tremendous societal benefits organizations and partnerships work on recycling along with advertising their particular products. This helps give people the picture that they are supporting the recycling and in favour of green earth, free from pollution. Recycling has been integrated completely i n to the daily lives of the human. Discussion Why Recycle? Areas which have utilized for landfilling have been continuously over utilized by the waste disposal management companies. Landfill creation has now been made more demanding because of stringent ecological regulations. The population have been increasing along with the demand for land used for disposing of waste. Similarly, offset is not possible because population needs more land and the landfill areas are contaminated due to dumping of hazardous waste. In the meantime, numerous old landfills were arriving at limit and governments were shutting down thousands more substandard landfills (Highfill & McAsey, 1997). This accelerated expanding costs and a quest for transfer to alternate plans, which, in turn, influenced each of the different phases of the technique stream. Waste directors carried thoughtfulness regarding different methodologies: diminishing the amount of waste at the source, gathering waste so it could all the m ore effortlessly be recycled or composted, handling waste more cost efficiently, and, at every stage, tending to ecological concerns. The successful integration and development of recycling techniques have resulted in cost efficiency along with more sustainable and cheap waste management techniques. Without a doubt, in certain neighbourhoods, recycling is unmanageable. Yet frequently, the aforementioned groups are still recycling at extreme level and are treating recycling as an agenda to include onto their

Genocide War between the Hutu and Tutsi people of Rwanda Essay

Genocide War between the Hutu and Tutsi people of Rwanda - Essay Example Causes of the genocide Though the Rwandan genocide occurred in the year 1994, its causes were wide spread into the country’s deep history that can be traced to independence period. Both sociological and psychological factors, as a result, accumulated to erupt into the horrific tribal based killings. One of the major sociological factors into the genocide was racial difference between the two communities. Though experts argue that the killings were not ethnically initiated, the genocide involved two ethic groups against each other. The difference between the two communities that identifies superiority complex among the Hutus played a major role. The enjoyed peace that the country had for about five decades prior to the genocide explains this. The country for example enjoyed peace and security in the ‘five-decade’ period while under the rule of the Hutus. A move to shift power from the community was the immediate cause of the killings. As a result, it is understanda ble that power struggle that was racially based led to the genocide. The powerful elites from the Hutu community could not accept a shift of power from their community and mobilize the Hutus into the killings (Stone, p. 31- 33). Another sociological factor into the genocide was the ‘long-term’ displacement of people from their ancestral land. Also viewed as an immediate cause of the genocide was the move by displaced people, who had in the past been forced to flee to other countries, to mobilize themselves into rebel forces with the aim of reclaiming their land. The rebel movement, that was seen as a threat to the Hutus power then triggered mobilization of the Hutus community by their elites. This is because the rebels were majorly associated with the Tutsi community. The two communities had however coexisted peacefully and a large number of Hutus undertook the killings for fear of being attacked by their fellow Hutus. The organization into the Hutus attacks on the Tuts is particularly spread the message that even Hutus who sympathized or aided Tutsis would be killed. The Hutus, as an ethnic group was therefore forced into the killings. Superiority complex among the Hutus was another factor towards into the killings. Even in the absence of manifested inter racial hatred, the Hutus traditionally perceived the Tutsis to be inferior and degraded. This explains why the Hutu elites could not tolerate a power shift to the Tutsis (stone, p. 31- 33). Psychological factors into the genocide on the other hand included fear among the Hutus elites. While the elites feared power shift to the rebel group, the organizers threatened the Hutus community into participation (Stone, p. 38- 40). David however identifies a mental seed, planted by the colonialist, as having played a role in psychological differences between the two communities into the final conflict (David, n.p.). Timing of the genocide The Rwandan genocide took place in the year 1994. It started in the month of April and ended in July. Clark explains that the genocide took about 100 days (p. 12). Acknowledgement of the genocide The international community, individually as nations and collectively through the United Nations, recognized the Rwandan genocide. National leaders for example recognized the event and their failure to prevent it. The United Nation’s move to establish an international court was also an indication the international c

Market Failure Resarch Paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Market Failure Resarch - Research Paper Example It is the duty of the government to intervene and make sure that prices set are not discriminative. Government intervention in the price mechanism is largely based on aims of wanting to alter or change the allocation of resources and attain what they think to be an improvement social and economic welfare. Therefore, government intervenes in the economy with the aim of influencing the allocation of scarce resources on the market among competing consumers. The government formulates policy intervention with the aims to improve the performance of the economy, attain more equitable distribution of income, and correct market failure. There are various alternatives in which the government can use to intervene in market. For instance, government legislation and regulation whereby it passes laws that prohibit the sale of certain goods such as cigarettes to people under the age of eighteen. Furthermore, competition laws works against cartels that are used to price fixing. In addition, it can use fiscal policy intervention to alter the level of demand for distinct products in the market. Government intervention has always created inequity in society in that certain groups gain more than the others do. For instance, it is equitable for the government to provide educational maintenance allowances for 16-18 children from low-income households for them to stay in school after GCSE. It is vital to note that government intervention in the market will never be neutral. For instance, financial support offered by the State to specific producers rather than others creates unequal society in that there are winners and

SOP Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

SOP Paper - Essay Example No doubt, extreme sports are a major attraction for sport lovers and can garner huge revenues, but there are numerous examples of sportspersons getting injured or maimed for life. One can never forget the snowboarder Kevin Pearce who suffered a traumatic brain injury when he was preparing for the Olympics in 2009. Therefore, my opinion is that extreme sports can be very dangerous for the sportsmen. For some people, extreme kinds of sports can be very tempting and they find it difficult to overcome the urge to participate in life risking sports. According to a sports consultant, Justin Anderson, some people have this innate sense of thrill that makes them do dangerous activities like jumping out of airplanes or climbing Mt. Everest (Hatfield, 2011). The question then arises is what is the thing that motivates these people to take part in such activities in spite of knowing the associated risks. It has been found that for these sportsmen, reaching the desired target is the primary factor while competition is the secondary factor. For these people, pushing their personal boundaries is a strong motivator although the fact that they are risking their life is always at the back of their minds. One common psychology behind these daredevil sports is the feeling that they have dared to dream the impossible and are also among those few who have achieved that dream (Hatfield, 2011). Extreme sports usually comprise high speed and risk. While both these elements can be thrilling for the youth because of their tendency toward heroism, the fact remains that such thrills are associated with extreme dangers that can be either fatal or lifelong disability. Since extreme sportsmen remain more excited to perform the perilous activities, most of the times they remain concerned about the event that will take place in that instant like how well they will be able to perform and

Weight management -Health Assessment Project Essay

Weight management -Health Assessment Project - Essay Example This report, therefore, facilitates a very clear understanding of the above concept and the relevance it has in health education and practice. The concept of self-efficacy is examined with its relationship with maintaining health status and practice. The review focusses mainly on weight control and exercise behaviours. The maintenance progress is highlighted for the given period through self-efficacy and experimental manipulations. Various methods are required to modify the health practices diverging from all sources (Hsu &Blandford, 2014). Too much consumption of high calories food contents and without regular checkups results into conditions like obesity. This is because these foods for instance, junky foods may have more fat contents and, as a consequence, many fats get deposited in the adipose layers of the body and results in weight increase. Genetically modified foods have been proven to contain many chemicals and therefore are harmful to the health of a person. As a result of it, apart from resulting in obesity, diseases like cancer come in (Zunker et al., 2011). The prevalence of this condition spreads from any person regardless of age, sex or even occupation. When nutritional balance is not observed and maintained in the body, adverse effects like obesity comes on board. Energy balance should be retained at all times as this maintains proper basal metabolic rate which checks up the energy balance of a person (Lytle et al., 2014). The benefits of managing weight include good health free of non-communicable diseases. Good practices like regular exercises are vital to maintaining this management and, as a result, the body is well maintained through consistent burning of extra calories. Moreover, when a person maintains good lifestyle through eating what is required then lifespan is increased. More chemicals are in foods that are genetically modified and therefore knowing what is to be eaten should be