Intelligence Failure - 1042 Words

This essay will analyze the key factors that may lead the intelligence failures to occur. Through discovering various materials, I find out that the failures are commonly caused by a combination of internal and external errors. Before discussing some reasons for the error, we need to understand the nature of intelligence work. The work is an outcome of team effort, as it consist a series of human endeavours, therefore it cannot be completely accurate. In fact, the intelligence failure could cause an intelligence agency or government to carry out operations that are counterproductive and improper to its own interest. Arguably saying, the worst intelligence failure is a chain of errors that could convert a fiasco to a global crisis. The†¦show more content†¦(Wyden. P pg 104) Therefore, The Kennedy administration might have missed the best time to attack. B: The failure of atomic intelligence After the Second World War, spying on soviet atomic weapons was at the top priority for the western intelligence. However, American and British did not have any agents inside the Soviet Union, or in other cases they did not know how or where to penetrate. (ALDRICH, R J pg218 ) Based on the record, they did even know where the Russians were developing their atomic infrastructure. The assumption was that Russians might explode their first new clear bomb in 1954. Whereas, the assumption had miscalculated for 5 years, in 1949, Russian had already tested their first atomic bomb. This event shattered the whole western world, shortly after the nuclear arms race began. External Errors Lack of intelligence resources: In this case, the western intelligence had failed to surveillance the soviets atomic program. Due to they did not have the sufficient personnel to penetrate inside Russian nuclear facilities. (ALDRICH, R J pg222 ) The best they can do was protecting their own nuclear secrets from the soviets intelligence. The lack of resources is a popular reason that why intelligence fail. Overestimation: This could be the most common error that leads to the intelligence failure. As during the Long Cold War period in which the almost allShow MoreRelatedThe Intelligence Failure Of Pearl Harbor3558 Words   |  15 PagesIntelligence failure is not a phenomenon which is new. Over the last hundred years there have been repeated cases of Intelligence failure. When the Intelligence community failed, it often led to significant repercussions for the political side. Sometimes the failure led to massive loss of life like in the example of Pearl Harbor in 1941 and the attacks on the twin towers on September 11, 2001. 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