Analytic Myopia, Data Disintegration and Homeland insecurity.

This article examines perhaps the most critical topic in the debate--intelligence performance and suggests that, although there has been a fundamental misunderstanding of intelligence, there is most significantly a dysfunctional information space in which to conduct effective analysis of the terrorism threat. In this article, author identifies two general problems: data disintegration and analytical capability. The recurring demand for "actionable intelligence," a term that first emerged in the media in the context of the Somalia debacle some 10 years ago, is consistently offered as both a criticism and a rationale for inaction. All too often, the intelligence question cannot be resolved as a matter of logic because it depends on predictive information that could prevent another terrorist attack on the U.S. The single most significant challenge facing IT in the intelligence community is this environment enterprises with hundreds of isolated, stove-piped applications that manage redundant data and don't communicate effectively, if at all, with each other. INSETS: A NOTE ABOUT THE DEFINITION AND CATEGORIES OF INTELLIGENCE.;A NOTE ABOUT DATA SECURITY.;A NOTE ABOUT PROGRAM MANAGEMENT AND IPV.;FAILURE OF THE ANALYTICAL BASE: AIRPLANES AS WEAPONS.