In his book, “ Enemies: A History of the FBI" by Tim Weiner discusses about a number of things. First, Weiner points out how the FBI, as a police force, is involved in protecting the nation against spies and terrorists. The author also states that the issues concerning the dangers of overreach by intelligence agencies, the politicization of intelligence, and the issues faced by FBI professionals. Weiner goes further to describe ways by which the FBI engages in offensive operations for the benefit of both the agency and the nation at large. Weiner also covers on Ethical and moral dilemmas faced by FBI.
Issues surrounding Liaison among Foreign Intelligence and Counterintelligence Services
Liaison is expected among foreign intelligence and counterintelligence services among FBI units for them to operate in unison and realize better outcomes. The book insists that counterintelligence employs liaison in its operations as they delegate some of the nation’s security operations to other alien organizations which they have no authority upon ( Johnson, 2009). Since World War II, the closest and friendliest liaison arrangements have been between the U.S. and other English speaking allies including Australia, Canada, Britain, and New Zealand. Among the issue that arises during liaison include competition against cooperation where each police force seems to jealously guide their operations.
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Elementary security emphasizes that the knowledge of sensitive information should only be limited to those who need to know it and only then should it be uncovered ( Johnson, 2009). This can be critical towards the achievement of success in the field which requires cooperation at its best. The Americans and the British could be working together in a foreign capital city but keep their work routine secret yet both are involved in a liaison with the city’s local services and each other. This may result in lack of confidence between the police forces since other secret agendas are often hidden. The local police force could also inquire about certain aspects of the operation only to find out a different operation was happening.
Ethical and Moral decisions made by the FBI and other pertinent agencies
The FBI and other pertinent agencies often indulge in decision-making that often has ethical and moral implications. The FBI agents often engage in ethical issues that put the interests of the organization and its client first and that also caters to the needs of the nation as well. The ethical and moral decisions are made on a daily basis and this increases the probability of the agency facing several dilemmas in the process ( Lowenthal, 2017). Ethical are situations that require the agency to act according to the stipulated professional standards yet still engage in counter practices including counter spying.
Consequently, such dilemmas need to be observed given the nature of counterintelligence works. Johnson (2009), states that since there is no proper definition of the ethical and moral standards that the FBI should use, the agents are expected to practice balance and maturity on what is the best approach to use as they perform their daily routines.
Necessity for Oversight by the FBI Agency
The FBI is involved in certain practices that have may have negative implications since they are offensive in nature. Among the offensive practices that the FBI often indulge in include secret and aggressive operations that are often overseen yet they have several moral and ethical burdens. The FBI indeed plot, trick, and intrigue most of the operations that are offensive but the question is whether such operations are necessary or not. An operation that involves detection by the FBI often relates to cases of breach of confidential information to arrive at the required outcomes which mostly involves the retrieving of important evidence ( Prunckun, 2012). Detection by the FBI often involves the identification of an event of concern, identifying the person involved, persons of interest, and gathering the information and facts that link the suspect to the case ( Prunckun, 2012). The necessity for a data breach can come in handy for this case although unlawful retrieval of information is mainly associated with the violation of personal space. From my perspective, I feel that data breach is necessary in putting suspects behind bars but it should only be used in cases that are critical and could result in life imprisonment or indictment.
Another offensive action by the FBI is deception and this involves the use of psychology in understanding a suspect’s memory, perception, decision-making, and reasoning while conducting most operations. Consequently, the agents tend to use camouflage and decoys to perform operations both locally and overseas. Deception may involve the use of wrong credentials or may state that they were on leave a day before the operation ( Prunckun, 2012) I think that this technique might be necessary for the agency to perform a successful without getting detected.
Among the two illegal acts that have been discussed, data breaches seem to be the most disturbing since it involves unlawful retrieval of data and information from suspect’s devices. I think that this practice can affect anyone in the country hence making it a national concern as the information can be manipulated and used for wrong motives should they land in the wrong hands. Protection of personal data and information should be among the government’s primary roles and unlawful retrieval of the same should not only be permitted when it is the last choice.
How Historical events impacted the FBI’s Secret Intelligence Operations
The FBI often indulges in secret operations which are done as a response to certain events that needed their involvement both within the nation and overseas. This led to the creation of the Special Intelligence Service (SIS) that was funded secretly. One of the events that facilitated the use of spies included FBI attack over the Nazi which began in 1940. A Morse code was sent over the radio and was used to transmit commands to be performed by the FBI on German soil. One notable feature was the use of double agents as the U.S. wanted to counter German’s spying operations that were being conducted on the U.S. soil hence enabling the U.S. to obtain information concerning the German operations.
The election of Donald Trump also sparked controversial cases of the involvement of Russia in stealing the elections in favor of Donald Trump. This event called for investigation operations to be conducted by the FBI in Russia. Consequently, the FBI counterintelligence was involved in the investigations ( NBC News, 2019). The investigations involved investigations conducted on members of the FBI including two key managers. The FBI is now engaged in aggressive operations to rebuild its image that had somehow been tainted by past operations as most people had lost their faith in the agency. The agency fired the FBI deputy assistant, Peter Strzok over the case and later on fired his boss, assistant FBI director, Bill Priestap.
Factors that impacted the lack of coordination between the FBI and other members of the USIC regarding Counterintelligence and Counterterrorism matters
Surveillance is important in the operations of the FBI and it involves coordination at its best. Among the factors that impacted the lack of coordination between the FBI and other members of the USIC include whether the operation is at home or abroad. Coordination of operations on events that happen at home seems to be much easier compared to those done over events that happen overseas. The surveillance agents may be easily recruited ad coordinated on the U.S. soils compared to when the operation is conducted overseas due to the issue of trust and commitment. The cover is also another factor that affects the FBI’s coordination strategies as the cover that is used during the surveillance should be detachable in that once a member of the team is detected (‘blown’), the rest of the team can easily proceed with the operation. Lastly, compartmentation also affects coordination among the FBI and the USIC team and this entails the context to which the agents know their job requirements. The coordination between the two teams can be more effective if both teams understand what is needed for effective coordination to be conducted.
Impacts of U.S. presidents in deploying the FBI to obtain Political Intelligence.
President Lyndon Johnson involved the FBI in spying on his political opponents has largely been criticized by most people. Johnson was accused of abusing his power and taking advantage of his presidency to influence FBI’s management into giving out critical information about his opponents with an effort to gain a political advantage over them. The 1964 elections results indicated that Johnson had won by more than 60% of the popular vote. President Richard Nixon, on other hand, contacted the FBI in an event to cover crimes in a scandal that has since been termed as the Watergate Scandal. The president allegedly involved several agents on covering up crimes committed between 1972-1974. This investigation conducted linked the cash found during that period to the president.
Conclusion
The book “Enemies: A History of the FBI" focuses on the operations conducted by the FBI agency both locally and overseas. The book focuses on the offensive operations undertaken in the process including deception and detection. Coordination factors between the FBI and members of the USIC are also discussed in the book. The book plays a significant role in enabling the readers to understand the roles of the FBI to national security.
References
Johnson, W. (2009). Thwarting enemies at home and abroad: How to be a counterintelligence officer Chapters: 7,8,15,
Federal Judicial Center. (n.d.). Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court and Court of Review, 1978-present. Retrieved from https://www.fjc.gov/history/courts/foreign-intelligence-surveillance-court-and-court-review-1978-present
Lowenthal, M. (2017). Intelligence from secrets to policy; 7th edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
NBC News. (2019). Read the text of the Mueller report. Retrieved from: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/read-text-full-mueller-report-n994551
Prunckun, H. (2012). Counterintelligence theory and practice. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman and Littlefield
