INTL 616 - Intelligence Oversight and Ethics Essay

Intelligence Oversight and Ethics
Name
Course
Institution
Date
Intelligence Oversight and Ethics
The activities of the intelligence community remain critical to national security amidst the concerns of ethical violations. In contemporary society, intelligence is a primary weapon in the fight against crime. Security agencies keep demanding high efficiency in their operations as their actions can trigger crises if not assessed properly. The dilemma that arises amidst attempts to deliver efficient intelligence community roles stems from the ethical violations that such endeavors trigger. Questions are asked about the boundaries that the intelligence community cannot surpass in their attempt to secure the nation. Currently, intelligence oversight remains the only avenue for the public to assess the intelligence community's activities and approve or disapprove those activities bearing the needs for national security. In this review, emphasis is anchored on intelligence oversight and its role in taming the boundaries of the intelligence community activities and the ethical concerns clouding the effectiveness of intelligence oversight using the tenets of the theory of intelligence.
Understanding Intelligence Oversight
Defining intelligence has become challenging bearing the application of the concept to imply different prospects in national security. Primarily, intelligence can imply an ability by a professional. That is, a security officer can be considered intelligent because he/she is capable of seeking and obtaining the necessary information (Dambly 2018, 109). Intelligence can also be used about the information itself. Amidst all that confusion, intelligence oversight seems to manifest a clear understanding. Intelligence oversight is a process that ensures that all the intelligence community intelligence and counterintelligence activities are executed following the applicable intelligence community issuances, presidential executive orders, and the law. The intelligence oversight program is designed to ensure that the intelligence community can conduct its intelligence and counterintelligence missions with strict adherence to the protection of the citizens' constitutional and statutory rights. Intelligence oversight should also encompass reporting malicious activities within the intelligence community.
Oversight can be executed at different stages in an intelligence operation. The first stage is referred to as the ex-ante oversight. That is the oversight that happens before the intelligence operation is conducted. The ex-ante oversight helps with the determination of the legal framework surrounding the protracted intelligence duty. The period before the operation is also vital in aspects such as authorization of special measures and creation or approval of the budget necessary in overseeing the completion of the operation. Oversight can also be conducted in an ongoing operation. An ongoing oversight should include periodic hearings, on-sight inspections, regular reporting on the intelligence activities, and a special review of measures. An ongoing oversight should help with proper contingency plans in case the intelligence operations are not conducted as expected or in light of new information. Ultimately, oversight can be executed after the operation. That is, the stakeholders must assess their operations for areas of success or wrongdoing. This assessment is included for better outcomes in similar operations in the future. Hence, the sensitivity of intelligence activities makes oversight a continuous process.
A wide range of state institutions is involved in offering democratic control and oversight of intelligence. The primary institution indulged in oversight is the intelligence community. Every agency indulged in collecting, processing, storage, and using intelligence must be held responsible for its activities. These intelligence agencies understand their mandate's scope and the ethical, political, or security implications of their activities. Instilling an internal oversight program is normally important for individual agencies. Besides, while the roles of intelligence agencies remain controversial, their primary mandate remains to ensure the security of the citizens. That mandate is a challenge bearing the dynamism in intelligence collection, processing, storage, and usage. Professionals are required to understand changes in their operational environment, assess the changes, and adapt to such changes. Part of the improvement program constitutes the implementation of an internal oversight program, which helps in continuous improvement bearing the success rates in different aspects of intelligence.
Various government arms also have a role to play in the success of intelligence oversight. The first arm of the government with overwhelming power in intelligence oversight roles is the legislature. The Senate and the congress are mandated constitutionally to oversee the activities of the intelligence community. Being the representative of the people, the elected representatives are expected to front the interest of the people in intelligence activities. Besides ensuring that the intelligence community adheres to the law and acts ethically in its operations, the legislative authority also oversees the intelligence community's expenditure. Part of understanding the efficiency of oversight operations is anchored on monitoring the financial probity of intelligence services. From their expenditures, it can be possible to assess whether the intelligence community bears the intent to protect or harm the security of the people.
There are also the judicial and executive authorities that have remained vital in the oversight of intelligence of the nation. The government's executive arm institutes senior management of the intelligence community (Gill 2020, 109). Led by the president, the executive authority is privy to the activities of the intelligence community. The executive authority also approves the intelligence community's high-profile activities, including operation approvals and approval of budgets for such agencies. Conversely, the judicial authority marks the legal arm of intelligence oversight. Every activity executed by the intelligence community should be confined in the law. The scope of review by the judicial authority extends to authorization of the use of special measures, supervision, and review of the legality of the intelligence community operations. Arms of the judicial authority such as the ombudsman institution handle direct complaints from the public. Hence, every individual in the nation has an indirect or direct role in oversight the intelligence community. With all such oversight, one would expect the intelligence community not to attract the controversies that have consistently surrounded its operations, which is not the case. One is then obligated to ask the value of all such oversight activities.
Importance of Intelligence Oversight
The importance of intelligence oversight stems from the different activities of the intelligence community. The importance of intelligence oversight began in the 1060s and early 1970s when the US military invaded Vietnam. The civil rights issues and uprising that characterized activities in Vietnam triggered leaders at the highest levels of government and intelligence community to assess the threats of civil order to the intelligence community's activities. The intelligence community's image was painted negatively in public, with various movements insisting on their disregard for the constitution. In 1976, executive Order 11905 established the first oversight rules in collecting, retaining, and disseminating information concerning the security of US citizens. Even though the changes were made years ago to institute oversight in intelligence, the value of the changes remains to date. Hence, the primary importance of intelligence oversight is that it creates easy integration between the public and the intelligence community, something that is vital in delivering security, especially in contemporary society that is characterized by operational dynamism.
There is a range of other advantages linked to the inputs of intelligence oversight. Intelligence ove...