HUMAN INTELLIGENCE
Human Intelligence (HUMINT) involves the collection of information from human sources. The environment surrounding an individual requires special abilities that can help the individual to solve abstract concepts and manipulate the background using one’s knowledge. A universal definition for intelligence may not exist, but generally, the ability to think, make decisions and even solve problems can be defined as intelligence. The intelligence level cannot be accurately estimated or rated although the use of similar tests can rank individuals according to their intelligence levels. However, the use of tests to check the intelligence levels might give biased results since individuals might have different intelligence capabilities in different fields. Human intelligence can be said to evolve continuously due to the evolving demand for more advanced intelligence systems. Generally, HUMINT aims at collecting privileged information by using readily available human resources.
Technical intelligence has failed in its duty to provide sufficient information to supplement the information requirements for various institutions. One such institution is a security firm tasked with dealing with the terrorism issue in a local community. Initially, the security firms have been relying on technical intelligence to gather the information that is later used in investigations leading to successful missions in the fight against terrorism. The challenges that face HUMINT are a significant hindrance against the use of intelligence. For example, HUMINT faces challenges such as language barriers and lack of penetration opportunities among target groups. Also, the fact that human intelligence requires getting information from the target population means that subjects may face risks of being harmed if identified. Dealing with terrorism, for example, poses a significant danger in that victims of betrayal accusation may suffer the wrath of the terrorist groups and could lose their lives.
HUMINT takes several forms depending on the issue being addressed. Usually, people view HUMINT as a spy-work that is aimed at exposing the secrets of an organization that keeps its identity hidden. However, HUMINT takes several forms that include relying on defectors from a particular organization, undercover officers, and even people with special interest within the group who leak information to outside sources for their gains. The perfect form for dealing with terrorist groups has been using defectors who are given maximum protection from assassination attempts by the terrorist groups. Using spies in terrorist territories has proved futile on several occasions, and institutions prefer using other forms of intelligence rather than risking the lives of their officers in such areas. Most institutions have even chosen to use technical information since the impacts upon realization are not as adverse as the impacts of a failed HUMINT system.
Failures occurring due to the use of technical intelligence have in the past cost organizations in their vital missions. One such occurrence is the fight against Al-Qaeda by the US government that has been relying on satellite signals and drone spies to gather information about critical terrorist suspects. However, such intelligence techniques are only applicable to the extent that the terrorist groups are willing to pass information to the public. For example, drone cameras will be able to capture the movements of suspects outside their hideouts and thus will not present any useful information. Similarly, satellites will only give information concerning the unhidden actions of the terrorists, and in most cases, the terrorist groups will take advantage of the satellite devices to spread their ideologies across the world. Terrorist plans are always made under high secrecy and information from them can only be obtained by using sources within the terrorist groups. HUMINT comes in to save the institutions from the failures caused by using technical intelligence. The use of HUMINT allows the institutions to exploit the opportunity to get into the most profound privacy of such groups and discover information that can lead to bringing down key suspects.
HUMINT has been in existence for as long as human beings have existed. The most basic form of HUMINT is spying that has been in practice since time immemorial in events that involved war and non-war missions. Communities have in the past used spies to gather information from their enemies and later use such information to their benefit in times of war. The use of spies was majorly aimed at discovering the enemy’s weak points and potential allies who could be having similar interests inside the enemy’s territory. Human intelligence suffered a significant drawback with the developments in technology where human beings diverted into using technical intelligence and human intelligence was getting forgotten. However, the time has stood to prove that HUMINT is the solution that has been sought for a long time for the challenges facing human beings.
Organization and Mission
TUMINT is an accredited organization tasked with dealing with a local upcoming terrorist group. A group that recruits youngsters from the society by use of threats and lucrative money offers has established strong roots among the residents, but evidence has been insufficient to deal with the suspects leading and financing the group. The information about the group is not readily available since the community has been threatened and forced into keeping quiet concerning the activities of the group. The organization aims at using HUMINT to penetrate the structural organization of the group to discover crucial information that can be used to bring down the leaders of the group. Also, suspicions have been raised concerning the possibility that some government officials have been involved in financing activities of the group and thus information concerning such will be beneficial to the government.
TUMINT plans to cooperate secretly with the local community leaders and allow some of its affiliates to be deliberately recruited by the group. While inside the group, the recruits will be required to keep their identity as private as possible and not to actively involve themselves in confrontations that might cause suspicion among the group members. Also, the group has recently shown a lack of finances to finance most of its operations and thus involving itself in hijacking vehicles and kidnappings and requesting for hefty ransoms. The organization, therefore, is tasked with the responsibility to utilize the weakness that the organization has shown to beat them at their own game.
The operations of TUMINT are however based on the international law on humanity. A common belief concerning the HUMINT is that force might be used to obtain information where targets are unwilling to cooperate. For example, the CIA was involved in a forceful collection of information from Al-Qaeda suspects by exposing them to controlled interrogations. The interrogations involved use of force where individuals failed to cooperate with the officials. The CIA had initially been engaged in strategic missions of helping the government in seeking crucial information to be used against international enemies during the World Wars. For example, the CIA was involved in providing information that played a significant role in the successful bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999, an attack that led to the destruction of the Chinese embassy. Also, the CIA aided in the attempts to assassinate the Cuban president, Fidel Castro though unsuccessfully by the use of human intelligence. The activities of the CIA gave HUMINT a poor reputation and individuals thought that HUMINT is only about torture and spying. However, the CIA eventually changed its HUMINT missions and diverted its attention to terrorist groups such as the Al-Qaeda. The fight against terrorism can be said to have been fruitful under the efficient use of HUMINT. The strategies used by the CIA included torture through pain or being denied sleep for long hours. Also, interrupted drowning was used to compel the victims into giving the required information. The most common strategy used, however, was the detention of suspects inside torture camps such as the Guantanamo Bay detention center were the suspects are exposed to unwarranted torture. However, the use of such strategies to gather information was banned by the Obama rule, and the CIA had to use procedures recognized by international law.
Operations and Activities
The primary activities of TUMINT include the publication of journals presenting the outcomes of several missions conducted in the community. The goal of the organization will remain to be maintaining a society free from extremism and curbing the emergence of terrorist groups that have been risking the general peace in the region. The suspects who have been identified with operating about the local terrorist group will be followed up secretly to gather sufficient information before being approached as an attempt to attempt creating an association that will change their minds from engagement in extremism. The operations are to be guided by the international rules concerning humanity, and the rights of the suspects are considered in the operations.
A specific operation that will involve the TUMINT organization is the investigation of a group of suspects associated with the operations of a local terrorist group. The group is made up of two subgroups; financiers of the terrorist activities and individuals who have been accused of carrying out various terrorist attacks. The organization will come in to request the help of the area police in the arrest of the suspects before taking over to interrogate the suspects. The interrogation process is made to be in undisclosed areas for security purposes, and the organization will take full responsibility. Also, the interrogation process will be contacted by specially trained officers will utilize the available information availed through surveillance and spy information to form the basis for interrogation. The interrogation process will be followed by a debriefing session to engage interested parties such as the media and the general public concerning the success or the failure of the mission. The general public is directly affected by the operation and should, therefore, be briefed concerning the outcome of the operation.
The success of the organization depends on support from other bodies in the region. For example, the organization has no authority by the law to make arrests unless it is indispensable and no other option is available. However, terrorist suspects tend to be rebellious and will resist any attempts to engage them peacefully. The assistance of the police comes in since the law allows them to make arrests even for innocent citizens and subject them to scrutiny in a bid to prove their innocence. The help from the police will be significance also in giving security to the suspects and the interrogators during the interrogation process. Additionally, the organization will require permission from humanitarian agencies before infringing the privacy of individuals being spied on by the organization spies. The organization cannot operate by breaking the laws of the land and therefore has to be permitted by the government to work in the given region. Another external body that will be crucial in the operation of the organization is the prisons department. The arrested suspects will be detained in the cells during the interrogation process, and the prison department has to be involved.
The issue of terrorism is sensitive and cannot be left solely to a single institution to manage. The community is in the best position to give maximum assistance in dealing with the terrorist menace. Therefore, TUMINT is determined to create strong relations with the local community to get the maximum support that they might require during the period of operation. The required action can even be obtained from the local community since they interact with the suspects more than the organization’s officers.
Bibliography
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Gordon, Theodore J., Elizabeth Florescu, and Jerome C. Glenn, eds. Identification of Potential Terrorists and Adversary Planning: Emerging Technologies and New Counter-Terror Strategies. Vol. 132. IOS Press, 2017.
Kelly, Christopher E., and Christian A. Meissner. “Interrogation and investigative interviewing in the United States: Research and practice.” Contemporary developments and practices in investigative interviewing and interrogation 2 (2015).
Mayer, Matt A. “Enhanced Human Intelligence Is Key to Defeating Terrorists.” AEI Paper & Studies (2016): B1.