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By Root 783 0

on studying past terrorist efforts, virtually all of which failed to achieve their objectives despite rather lengthy periods of activity. Certain features begin to emerge. First, like all other activities, terrorists need success to maintain momentum and to recruit new adherents. This can prove to be a vulnerability for terrorists, as any disruption or deterrence is the equivalent of a defeat. On the other hand, it only takes one spectacular attack to regain momentum. Second, it appears that later generations of terrorists are somewhat less fanatical and more susceptible to negotiation— assuming that there is something about which to negotiate. Again, the religious aspect of early twenty-first-century terrorism makes this very difficult. Third, it is important to note that the current campaign against terrorism has created a series of operational and ethical dilemmas not only for intelligence officers but also for the policy makers who direct them. Much of this stems from the sheer novelty of conducting operations against terrorism on the scale that has evolved since 2001. As noted, terrorism has been an issue for U.S. intelligence since the 1970s, but these involved specific groups or individuals. Those terrorists who were apprehended could be tried for specific acts. Post-2001, the scope has widened. In addition to seeking individuals who can be brought to trial, there is a need to destroy terrorist cells and networks by apprehending participants. But these individuals fall into a somewhat uncertain legal status, being neither enemy combatants in the way in which uniformed soldiers of nations are nor indicted criminal suspects.

Operations and intelligence collection against known or possible terrorist threats has also raised issues for intelligence. As noted, the United States has conducted renditions (that is, extraterritorial arrests), which have become issues between the United States and some of its allies, although it is likely that there was knowledge of the U.S. activities at some level in most of these governments. Once captured, some terrorists have been transferred to other nations for interrogation. Critics have charged that this has allowed U.S. intelligence officers to use extraordinary interrogation techniques beyond U.S. territory, or to allow terrorist suspects to be interrogated in nations where harsher methods are sanctioned. This, in turn, has led to a debate within the United States about the use of techniques that might be deemed torture. In late 2007, Congress was considering legislation that would limit interrogations to those contained in the Army Field Manual, which allows nineteen interrogation techniques but not some of the harsher techniques that intelligence officers had apparently used on terrorists. There has also been a debate about the efficacy of harsher techniques. Opponents argue that information obtained under these circumstances cannot be reliable. Proponents disagree. CIA director Gen. Michael Hayden said, in November 2007, that more than 70 percent of the intelligence used in the latest terrorism NIE came from interrogated terrorists.

In addition to these controversies, there have also been issues raised about several means by which intelligence agencies have collected terrorist-related intelligence. The Treasury Department used a tracking program to trace financial transactions within SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications). Tracking and, where possible, preventing the transfer of funds to terrorists is an essential part of the counterterror strategy. Access to SWIFT allows analysts to know who is transferring funds, the amounts, and the accounts. Press revelations raised the usual concern about privacy. Interestingly, Congress was supportive of the effort to glean useful intelligence from SWIFT. The United States and the European Union agreed, in July 2007, to share data about airline passengers bound for the United States. In addition to identifying data (name, date of birth, citizenship), this exchange will include data about ethnicity, political