¶ … Sharing and Terror Attacks:
According to the findings of the 9/11 commission or the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States and several media reports, breakdowns in information sharing and failure to combine relevant intelligence are some key factors in the failure to stop the 9/11 terror attacks. Consequently, intelligence gathering and information sharing have become vital components of the U.S. government efforts to fight terrorism. Actually, the first major step for preventing terror attacks is to gather information regarding the operations of the terrorist group. This is followed by sharing the information across the relevant governmental agencies to use the information in preventing the attacks.
Information Sharing and the 9/11 Terror Attacks:
As part of showing the failure of information sharing in the failure to prevent the 9/11 terror attacks, the commission cited several reasons or factors including
Limits on Federal Law:
Many provisions in the federal law had been largely interpreted to restrict the capability of intelligence investigators to communicate with law enforcement officials before the 9/11 attacks. These initiatives also limited the ability of intelligence investigators and federal law enforcement officers to share information that is pertinent to terrorism with the intelligence community. As a result, the limits created a metaphorical wall or obstacle between the intelligence community and law enforcement officials. The figurative obstacle in turn inhibited significant information sharing and coordination to help in preventing the attacks (Thompson, 2003).
Lack of Coordinated Efforts:
The second aspect demonstrating the failure of information sharing in preventing the 9/11 terror attacks is the lack of coordinated efforts across relevant governmental agencies. While these agencies had pieces of information that could help prevent the attacks, the Central Intelligence Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and other law enforcement agencies lacked coordination ("Agencies Failed," n.d.). The agencies had pieces of information that could help unravel the terror plots...
Congress to develop an information-sharing environment that would offer and promote sharing terrorism-related information across all the relevant governmental agencies through the use of technologies and policy regulations. The two major information sharing models recommended by the 9/11 Commission to help in the war against terror include & #8230;
Policy Regulations:
Under policy regulations initiatives, the commission suggested that the U.S. president should lead nationwide efforts that bring the main national security agencies into the information revolution. In this case, the president should promote and organize the resolution and transformation of the legal, technical and policy issues across these agencies in order to support the creation and development of a trusted information network ("How To Do It?" 2004). This recommendation emanates from the fact that restrictions on the federal law were one of the key factors that inhibited information sharing before the attacks. The elimination of these policy hindrances would enable the national security and law enforcement agencies to share terrorism-related information to help fight against terrorism.
Use of Technologies:
Following the establishment of necessary policy regulations, the second information sharing model is the use of technologies in creating the information sharing environment. As a major concept of the information revolution, the use of technologies should primarily involve the creation of a decentralized network model. Unlike the existing information sharing model structured on an old mainframe, the decentralized network model could help in preventing terror attacks because it supports sharing data horizontally. The decentralized network model in part of the trusted network model that enable national security and law enforcement agencies and officials to share vital information.
Available Technology for Information Sharing Models:
As previously noted, the creation of a…
