legal issue about terrorism, security or disaster response

Legal Issues in Counterterrorism
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Legal Issues in Counterterrorism
Terrorism has been identified as one of the biggest threat to global security. Despite it being a serious challenge for a long time, the world is still struggling to find a sustainable solution. In this battle, intelligence has been identified as the main breakthrough in preventing terror activities. In fact, gathering information about terror activities has been recognized as the only way to adequately mitigate the implications of terrorism. However, this has not been without challenges. Gathering intelligence merely interprets collecting information regarding a person or his/her primary intentions, and responding before the intentions are actualized. As such, intelligence gathering plays a critical role in thwarting potential terror attacks. However, gathering data sometimes requires the concerned agencies to violate personal privacy. Privacy, intelligence and terrorism issues have always elicited heated debates, in efforts to find common ground.
Subsequently, Mark A. Randol (2009), in his publication outlines the importance of intelligence. According to this journal, one of the fundamental problems after September 11, 2001, attack was the breakdown of information sharing. Rescue and response teams were unable to mitigate the implications of the terror attack, mainly because there was no particular framework of sharing information. Since then, the United States took subsequent and cumulative measures exchange information among the security agencies to coordinate future terror attacks response.

This is what led to the emphasis on the role of intelligence in counter-terrorism measures.
Ideally, the primary theme in this work is counterterrorism measure. The author highlights the importance of gathering information to contain or monitor imminent threats within the borders of the American borders. In these strategies, the writer of this report outlines how information is collected and shared among the security agencies. In attempts to coordinate homeland security, the author notes that the Congress authorized the creation of a system of the exchange of information within the relevant government agencies. These centers are situated in different areas, to coordinate data mining so as to uncover suspicious activities. According to Randol (2009), data privacy and access are some of the major issues facing gathering and sharing intelligence activities. He proposes the concerned agencies should ensure the protection of the data, to avoid violating the Americans right to privacy.
Evidently, one lesson learned from this article is that intelligence is paramount in counterterrorism measures and present complex legal challenges. Addressing privacy concerns can only be achieved through a multifaceted approach, which involves reviewing of the existing legislations. Reviewing data protection legislations will reduce cases of information leakages, increasing the efficiency of sharing information in attempts to uncover terror plots. This journal also exposes the downside of intelligence, by suggesting the ethics of privacy protection CITATION Ran09 l 1033 (Randol, 2009).
Incidentally, ethics in data field presents extraordinary and unusual dilemmas that proceed beyond the ideal situation in various careers. Even though different professionals have several moral values, the intelligence career give ambiguous ethical matters that requires equally sophisticated strategies to handle them. However, moral values tend to differ from one community to another. This implies that morality is not a constant concept, but rather a highly dynamic one, which requires flexible definition. More so, spying on people is what defines data gathering. Thus, it is entirely possible to remain ethical and at the same time engage in spying activities without compromising the morality of a person, hence preventing legal. Indeed, espionage is deeply entrenched in deception, dishonesty, and lying. The spies are often required to camouflage in a given environment and provide raw data concerning the subjects being spied, without their prior permission or knowledge. The data gathered is used to formulate rigid strategies to make informed security policies, decisions or plans. Thus, intelligence gathering directly impacts the quality of critical security decision in the military or other security agencies.
Therefore, deceit, dishonesty and other conduct manifested by spies are and ought to be considered ethical. This is mainly because these are the primary paths or channels that allow collection of quality primary data in intelligence. In other words, practices deemed to be immoral in an ideal word should be regarded as the code of ethics in intelligence. In particular, deception, dishonesty should be considered as ethical in the intelligence field. This is mainly because truth and honesty may compromise the intelligent gathering efforts. Mostly, observing proactive and reactive behaviors of people without their prior knowledge increases the probability of gathering effective data regarding their actions, beliefs, and activities. However, as soon as they are aware that they are being monitored, they may behave differently so as to conceal their operations. This makes deception a necessity in the intelligence field.
All things considered, the ultimate key in counterterrorism measures is intelligence gathering. Nevertheless, this cannot be achieved if the person or agencies gathering information are considered unethical. As such, just like Randol proposes, comprehensive legislations must be formulated to define how intelligence is collected, shared and protected. It is only then that the counter-terror measures can be enhanced, without being subjected to legal debates or challenges.
References
Randol, M. A. (2009, November 5). Terrorism Information Sharing and theNationwide Suspicious Activity ReportInitiative:. Background and Issues for Congress.