Intelligence Cycle Analysis Essay (Research Paper Sample)

Intelligence cycle
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Intelligence cycle
Intelligence is a process by the Intelligence mandated bodies together as Intelligence community (IC), for example, Criminal Intelligence Agency (CIA) to gather critical information of national security interests to protect its citizens against external or internal attacks(Gill & Phythian,2006). Intelligence at the international level helps the country with the necessary information to participate in war and win.
Information vs. Intelligence
The info is Intelligence is usually confused with wrong information; there exists a difference between the two words. Information is knowledge obtained about a particular circumstance or a fact. At the same time, Intelligence is the process of finding the info analyzing what it means, then using its interpretation to take a particular action (Warner, 2009). Information can be found everywhere, be it internet newspapers, books, journals, blogs, etc. on the other hand, Intelligence cannot be found everywhere, and even when it is found, and it requires special skills to interpret.
Intelligence cycle
The intelligence cycle can be defined as a systematic procedure of gathering and developing raw information into a complete intelligence data to be used in taking necessary action or making appropriate decisions by policymakers (Scott & Jackson, 2004). Intelligence provides crucial insights that's was not known before, which offer warnings to potential threats that would otherwise destroy properties, harm travelers, or even leading to death. In the United State Intelligence Community consist of organizations and federation of the executive branch, agencies working separately level but together conduct intelligence functions that work to protect national security. They are primarily focused on counter-proliferation, cyber intelligence counterintelligence, and counterterrorism.
Intelligence cycle, in other words, can be referred to as a mental process that involves steps of gathering and developing raw information into a complete intelligence report. Initially, there existed five stages of the intelligence process, but according to (Lowenthal, 2002) there are additional steps used by the Intelligence community in the United States. Below is an outline of the stages of the cycle of Intelligence:
Step 1: Planning
It is the beginning of the intelligence step but also the end of the process. It is the beginning because it draws the clue of what is required for specific data collection and is the end because it closes the end of Intelligence, Intelligence that is suitable to be applied by policymakers to make policy decisions occasionally generate new requirements. The process depends on the directive given to the intelligence community by the policymaker when they request the need for Intelligence. Defining the vital questions that Intelligence needs to contribute and specifying Intelligence is what constitutes the first step.
Step 2: Collection
This step involves systematic gathering of raw information that is needed, which, when analyzed and interpreted, produces a finished intelligence ready to be used. The information is collected through interviews, human resource operations liaison relationships, physical and technical surveillance, and searches. There are many sources where data is collected, namely: open sources, secret sources, and technical sources.
Basic types of intelligence collection
* Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT)
* Human-Source Intelligence (HUMINT)
* Signals Intelligence (SIGINT)
* Geospatial Intelligence (GEOINT)
* Imagery Intelligence (IMINT)
* Measurement and Signature Intelligence (MASINT)
Step 3: Processing
Step three involves converting a large amount of raw information that was collected into a usable unit of Intelligence that will make the intelligence interpretation easy. The process of the collection does typically not involve organization somewhat unfiltered vast data. Therefore in this stage, the raw information interpreted, converted, and translated into a usable form to be used by the policymakers. This stage involves the application of the following techniques during the processing
* Placing human-source reports into a form and context to make them more understandable
* Preparing information for computer processing, storage, and retrieval
* Reducing telemetry to meaningful measures
* Exploiting imagery
* Decoding messages a
* Translating broadcasts
Step 4: Analysis
Analysis step involves the conversion of the necessary information into a finished intelligence, which is carried out through the process of integration, analyzing, and evaluation. The subject-oriented analysis considers the information relevance, validity, and rel