Research studies have proven that there was no sufficient intelligence applied by the Intelligence community before the advent of the Second World War. Even during the war, intelligence was handled in a casual and uncoordinated manner. According to the Federation of American Scientists (1996, par. 5), there was “insufficient attention to certain collection requirements”.
From the first post, it is evident that the intelligence techniques and methods used during the conflict years were ineffective and hence resulted into numerous failures characterized by surprise attacks. The Pearl Harbor attack by the Japanese in 1941 was a clear evidence of a weak national intelligence system of the United States.
From the post, it is possible to discern that the Pearl Harbor attack prompted the US to enter a battlefield and declare war against Japan. The US saw the need to establish an effective intelligence system especially in the army and naval forces. Currently, there is “widespread trend toward incorporating government intelligence methodology into commerce and education” (Krizan 1999, 1).
This post highlights that substantial intelligence capabilities were later created by the military to support the war. However, what were these capabilities and how were they effective in the battlefield? This post focuses a lot on the US intelligence during the Second World War and does not adequately discuss Operation Iraqi Freedom even though it had the greatest impact in the development of the United States Intelligence Community (IC) during the early 20th century.
In other words, the post concentrates on the issues that affected the intelligence system in the 19th century. Therefore, it is necessary to consider other events such as the US war against Iraq and Afghanistan alongside the impacts of the war on the Intelligence Community.
This post admits the fact that intelligence has evolved in various ways since the era of the civil wars to the present time. It is clear that intelligence is “gaining attention in the twenty-first century” (Breakspear 2013, 682). Before considering how much intelligence is required to guard a nation, it is worth to examine its necessity.
The post highlights that intelligence crisis is over. However, how are we certain that the crisis has ended? Does it imply that the end of the Second World War was an indicator that the intelligence crisis ended? We are still facing myriads of security threats within the global society (Johnson 2005, 116).
It is true that the US has adopted an isolation approach to respond to international matters? Nonetheless, the approach seems not to be helpful to the Intelligence Community. It could be factual that the Pearl Harbor attack was significant in the development of intelligence system. However, it does insinuate that previous attacks were not destructive. Moreover, if the harbor attack had gross effects on Intelligence, then there is need to expound them in details.
Historical records show that the US first entered into war with Iraq in 1991 to drive its militias out of Kuwait. The US had to collaborate with NATO allies to achieve the goal. This disqualifies the assumption that the country has embraced an isolation approach to international affairs (Federation of American Scientists 1996, par. 14).
This post confirms that there has been little development in intelligence since the end of major world wars and civil crises. Meanwhile, Iraq invaded Kuwait later on and after the US intervention, “leaders within the Intelligence Community began streamlining their agencies and reorienting toward new missions with a greater focus on transnational threats” (Federation of American Scientists 1996, par. 15). This means that the operation in Iraq was one of the remarkable events that immensely affected the US Intelligence Community.
References
Breakspear, Alan. 2013. “A New Definition of Intelligence.” Intelligence and National Security 28, no 5 (July), 678-693.
Federation of American Scientists. 1996. “The Evolution of the U.S. Intelligence Community-An Historical Overview.” Last modified February 23, 1996. Accessed from https://fas.org/irp/offdocs/int022.html
Johnson, Loch. 2005. “Framework for Strengthening US Intelligence, A.” Yale Journal of International Affairs. 7, no.1 (June): 116-123.
Krizan, Lisa. 1999. Intelligence essentials for everyone. Washington DC: Books for Business.