Future Tasks For Security Agencies In The Fight Against Terrorism

Abstract

This chapter argues that there are four big tasks for the security agencies in the fight against terrorism in the future. The first of these tasks is to think of ways to help the security and intelligence agencies, and also the British public, to understand the nature of the threat we face. It argues that the UK agencies did not always properly understand that threat prior to 9/11. The second task is to carry out a proper, dispassionate and objective public audit of Britain's intelligence and security successes and failures. The third task is for the experts in the field to continually remind the public of the nature of the security threat. The fourth future task for the agencies is to begin work now on a series of much smaller tasks. One of these mini-tasks is to help the security and intelligence agencies define the targets for their operations. Keywords: fight against terrorism; intelligence agencies; security agencies; security threat; UK