National Security in America: Response of the American Intelligence Community to 9/11

Abstract

After 9/11, the American intelligence community (IC) grew from few to uncountable, and the money allocated to the community could only be guessed at, given the secret and other funds that accompanied allocated funds for expanding intelligence capability. Out of this spiraling confusion, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was born to coordinate the disparate efforts of known and lesser-known intelligence organizations. However, the DHS could not handle the tremendous IC activity by himself, and by 2010, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), the Top Intelligence Officer in America was additionally established. Most of the work in bringing the IC together has been done by the DHS. It seems to have been successful in identifying the directions from which a threat may enter into the country. More importantly, the DHS has implemented a reporting system, together with reporting training, that will allow local law enforcement personnel to participate in the national security effort by logging their observations and disseminating them throughout the DHS system. That system is designed not just to collect information, but to share it with participating agencies (including local law enforcement) as well. Part of this initiative is the “See Something, Say Something” campaign that involves private citizens in the national security effort. Of all of the ODNI and DHS efforts, the private citizen observation campaign holds the most realistic promise and provides the best lesson for nations that would learn from the American terrorism response experience.