ABSTRACT
This chapter is colored by the bold and devastating 11 September 2001 attack by al-Qa’ida terrorists on the symbols of American power. Fear of another “9/11” – a surprise terrorist attack within the United States – has focused the attention of government leaders and the population at large on the centrality of effective warning intelligence to the protection of the national interest. The need for improved warning intelligence underlies both the recent sharp increase in the national investment in intelligence collection and analysis and a congressionally mandated reorganization of the Intelligence Community, namely the establishment of a Director of National Intelligence. Fear and hope are joined in the title of the 2004 legislation: The Intelligence Reform and Prevention of Terrorism Act.
