Role of U.S Agencies in Counterterrorism

This article discusses the National Security Agency, its functions, tools available for counterterrorism operations, coordination with other organizations, and types of intelligence collected. It also includes a table of contents and references. HSM: 433 Counter Terrorism & Intelligence Analysis

Running head: ROLE OF U.S AGENCIES IN COUNTERTERRORISM
Role of U.S agencies in counterterrorism
Chhan S Lam
Ashford University
HSM: 433 Counter Terrorism & Intelligence Analysis
Instructor: Earl Ballou
Dated: November 04 2018

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ROLE OF U.S AGENCIES IN COUNTERTERRORISM
Table of Contents
Introduction to the Agency..............................................................................................................3
Summary of the Function of the Agency.........................................................................................3
Identification of the tools available for the agency to conduct counterterrorism operations..........4
Evaluation of coordinating activities with other similar organizations...........................................5
Types of Intelligence collected by the Agency................................................................................6
References........................................................................................................................................8

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ROLE OF U.S AGENCIES IN COUNTERTERRORISM
Introduction to the Agency
The National Security Agency is a national level intelligence agency functioning under the
United States Department of Defense. The department functions on the authority of the Director of
National Intelligence. The National Security Agency is mainly responsible for global monitoring,
collection and processing of different types of data that are either acquired by normal means or by top
secret means. Apart from this the organization is also responsible for collection of intelligence for
foreign intelligence and counterintelligence purposes. It is capable of a special signaling system
known as Signaling intelligence through which it aims to make the most of the communication
(fincen.gov 2018). Headquartered in Maryland, U.S.A, the following agency has an estimated budget
of more than $10 billion. The NSA does not involve itself in foreign human espionage and generally
carry out different types of work through the transformation of intelligence through intelligence
signaling systems. It was formed in the year 1952 just after the end of the Second World War and had
actively participated in gathering information during the Cold War era, Vietnam War and the
Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria conflicts. The mission of the department is to include different radio
eavesdropping, intercepting phone calls and radio calls to ensure the safety of the organization in any
different cases of security threat to the nation (dni.gov 2018).

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Summary of the Function of the Agency
The NSA was created as a part of the belief that the importance of a distinct character of
communications intelligence warranted an organization that was to be totally different from that
of the armed forces and the other kind of intelligence agencies of U.S.A (Clapper 2015). Though
the department operates in coordination with the department of defense, the NSA mainly belongs
to the intelligence committee. The main function of the department is to include the protection
and the formulation of different codes, ciphers and other cryptology for the U.S military and the
other kinds of Government agencies as well as the interception, analysis and solution of different
coded transmissions by electronic or other special means. The agency has separate wings for
research and development that conducts research of varying formats. It also conducts posts to
intercept different type of signals all around the world. The main activities of the following
organization can thus be pointed out in a list. They are as follows; Staffing and supporting the President of America in different National security and
foreign policy Advocating and advancement of different types of presidential initiatives within the
executive branch of the government Injecting a sense of strategy into the interagency process Explaining the policies of the President to the public
The organization basically uses the Scowcroft model whose elements are as follows;
a. Providing a policy of advice to the President in confidence
b. Keeping a very low public profile
c. Conduction of a fair and transparent process to suggest policies to the President of the
state

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d. Putting the President at the center of the decision making process
Identification of the tools available for the agency to conduct counterterrorism operations
There are a number of different tools that have been in use by the NSA to counter the
different terrorism activities that are presently happening in USA and different parts of the world
that threatens the security of USA. Some of them are as follows;
1. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act- The 1978 Foreign Service Intelligence Act was
enacted as a response to public outrage over the extent of domestic spying during the
presidential term of Kennedy and Nixon. The following act was unique as because it
created a distinctive nature between the criminal and that of the intelligence
investigations in terms of the different standards of the Government. The criminal
investigation needs a probable cause to obtain a surveillance warrant (fincen.gov 2018).
On the other hand the FISA act provided power to the intelligence agency to carry
surveillance activities without the presence of any warrant or any written permission as
such.
2. Patriot Act- The following act was incorporated by the Bush administration on the year
2001 to provide the necessary tools required to intercept and obstruct the terrorism
activities. Under the Patriot Act and the attorney general's new guidelines, FISA data
obtained from wiretaps, trap and trace devices, pen registers, e-mail, secret grand jury
information and other information in criminal cases can now be turned over to
intelligence agencies if the material is deemed "foreign intelligence information."
Apart from the above mentioned tools there are also other kinds of acts and special permissions
that help the National Security Agency to conduct different types of operations in an organized and
secret manner to protect the country and provide accurate intelligence (Falk and Morgenstern 2009).

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Evaluation of coordinating activities with other similar organizations
The National Security Agency is directly under the Department of Defense and therefore
its coordination with other intelligence organizations is surely quite common in nature. The
agency conducts regular meetings with the other secret intelligence agencies like FBI, CIA,
Department of Homeland Security, Department of State and many others as such to keep
updated. The coordination with each other also helps to keep danger from terrorism away. The
organization was widely criticized after it failed to intercept the attacks of World Trade Center
and thus it now communicates different details on intelligence and tries to innovate with new
ideas of communication and decoding (dni.gov 2018). The main activities of the organization
thus also depend on the existence of a proper intercommunication among the different
intelligence agencies.
Types of Intelligence collected by the Agency
The different kinds of intelligence collected by the organization are as follows;
a. Human Intelligence- the Human intelligence is referred to the collection of information
from different human sources. The collection may be done openly or by secret means.
The agency has a large number of persons functioning in the country as well as outside
the country to make sure that they are updated about all the different types of the
intelligence.
b. Signals Intelligence- It refers to signal intelligence which are collected from signals
received through planes, ships, UAV’s, satellites and many other different types of other
sources of collecting signals accordingly. SIGINT is a particular type of signal
communication used by NSA.

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c. Imagery intelligence- Imagery intelligence is sometimes referred as collection of
intelligence through photo. The photos are generally collected from airplanes and UAV’s
that are undetectable and untraceable by radars.
d. Measurement and Signal Intelligence- MASINT is the short form of the measurement of
signature intelligence. It is not known to most of the persons and is a coded collection
form of intelligence. MASINT generally includes the different types of advanced
processing and the use of the information that is gathered from the different types of the
overhead and airborne systems of the organization. This includes the likes of the IMINT
and SIGINT collection systems (dni.gov 2018). Apart from this the organization also uses
the Telemetry intelligence systems which are better known as TELINT. It is used to point
out the data that is relayed by different kind of weaponries during the tests. ELINT or
electronic intelligence on the other hand can indicate electronic emissions that are picked
up from different modern weapons and tracking devices. Both of the mentioned systems
can be types of signature intelligence systems and helps to contribute to measurement of
signature intelligence.

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References
Clapper, J. (2015, 24 July). “Herding Cats” Aspen Security Forum – Interview by Andrea
Mitchell (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. [Video]. Retrieved from:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1dWq0sxRlY
Falk, O., and Morgenstern, H. (Eds.). 2009. Suicide terror: understanding and confronting the threat.
Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.Chapter 7: Medical Management of Suicide Terrorism
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network United States Department of the Treasury. (n.d). USA Patriot
Act (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.. Retrieved from
http://www.fincen.gov/statutes_regs/patriot/index.html
http://www.heritage.org/research/commentary/2013/7/60-terrorist-plots-since-911-continued-lessons-
in-domestic-counterterrorism?ac=1
Office of the Director of National Intelligence (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site..
(http://www.dni.gov/index.php/intelligence-community/members-of-the-ic)
The Federal Bureau of Investigation. Intelligence Collection Disciplines (Links to an external
site.)Links to an external site.(INTs) Retrieved from: https://www2.fbi.gov/intelligence/di_ints.htm
Zuckerman, J., Bucci, S., and Carafano, J. 2013. 60 Terrorist Plots Since 9/11: Continued Lessons in
Domestic Counterterrorism (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.. Report SR-137. The
Heritage Foundation, Washington DC. Retrieved from: