The 9/11 terror attacks will go down in the American history as the worst attack that occurred on the American soil. The attack claimed thousands of American lives and left others with wounds and mental trauma. The attack found the nation security agencies unprepared. Not a single security agency could think a terror attack could occur on the American soil. The attack made the nation learn the gaps that existed in security agencies mandated to ensure Americans are safe.
One, the attack revealed the gap that existed between security agencies. Despite, the nation having top notch intelligence agencies like Central Intelligence agency (CIA) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) the security information gathered were not shared efficiently. For example, CIA was aware that al-Mihdhar, one of that 9/11 attacker, was among terrorists who gathered at Malaysia in January 2000. But, the information CIA had concerning al-Mihdhar was not shared with other security agencies. Even his name was not listed on the database of individuals who are a threat to the United States. This gap enabled al-Mihdhar to enter American soil and enroll for pilot classes and later take part in 9/11 attacks (Zegart, 2005).
Two, at the time of 9/11 attack America was focused on attacks in other nations. Previously Americans were attacked while in foreign nations. But, 9/11 attack brought forth a new dispensation. The American were now killed, maimed and their properties destroyed while on their own soils (Myre, 2021). The domestic security was not a priority and thus there was no security agency that could be held responsible. The attack made the federal government to redefine its priorities that led to creation of Department of homeland security (DHS) to with a goal of ensuring the American citizens and their properties is secure.
The security agencies learnt the importance of engaging private entities and communities in its activities. The intelligence agencies, as well as DHS involves businesses, faith based and community organizations. The engagement is meant to educate the participants on the importance of reporting any suspicious activity which is a security threat. The participants are also enlightened on the dangers of joining terror groups as well as being radicalized online (FBI National Press Office, 2021). This is because lone actors who are driven by ideologies like racial, anti-government, personal hurt and grievances, among other principles have become a major threat to homeland security.
Lone actors (lone wolfs and mass murderers) are terrorists who attack without being involved with any group. These terrorists are hard to trace as they have no communication that can be detected by security agencies. This is where community engagement comes in. Lone actors are source of motivation to terrorists. Thus they need to be disrupted before they attack. If they are not interrupted before they attack they can make the nation experience another attack similar to 9/11 attack (Ma, 2017).
Roles and Responsibilities of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence
Following 9/11 commission report the Congress passed Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004. The Act was meant to improve information sharing across intelligence community. The Act created the office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI). The ODNI oversees the sharing of intelligence information among other roles. The office was created to bridge the information sharing gap that existed within the intelligence agencies (Congressional Research Service, 2021).
ODNI analyzes and assesses homeland security threats and informs concerned agencies (state, local, tribal, community) for planning. This is important in combating terror attacks. The ODNI ensures all the security intelligence relating to terror attacks are efficiently shared among security agencies like FBI, DHS among others. This makes the information to reach the relevant authority on time for action (DHS, 2016).
ODNI's position on signals intelligence collection
Signal intelligence provides intelligence information from signal interception. This is mainly done on communication channels. Although, ODNI maintains that the gathered information is only used for security purposes and by authorized personnel, signal intelligence has a lot of privacy concern issues that need to be addressed. The interception does not filter the collected information and thus the intelligence community end up having even private information of American citizens. In case of information breach that information can be used against the American citizens and the effect may be detrimental than a terror attack (Lee, 2019).
