Sunday, January 22, 2017

Intelligence Officer In Training: "Yes, According To US Law, Attribution-Citations, Are Required, For the Field of Intelligence Studies and Employment."



1-22-2017

Response To: “Are citations, applicable to the professional field of intelligence studies and communications-in a working environment?”



A lot of this has to do with what phase of intelligence you’re working within.  In my field, we process, exploit, and disseminate information.  Basically, this means we collect it, say what is happening, and push it out to the customer.  There is very little actual analysis occurring at this stage, however even a site that focuses on analysis is not overly concerned with citing sources.  The main concern is accurate classification markings taken from the source document, not who the author was. -Timothy Wilde



The field of intelligence studies, exists, because countries need to know, what is happening both: domestically, and internationally-to stay, as safe as possible. Terrorists, operate and communicate, in a cell-format. Interactions, and communications between terrorists-can be traced. Communications, from one terror cell, to the next, are important, because, the communications always lead-to more terrorists, who must be prosecuted: “to, the fullest extent of the law.”

       Citations-when writing a research paper, presuming, that the author has provided the correct information, and, provides enough information-about the writer, that, more information about the author-can be easily located. When someone is engaged, in illegal activities-any kind of terrorism at all-what is of interest, about that individual, is far more, than just their name. A simple background check-even before social connections are explored, through information available publicly, on social networking websites, etc.-opens up, additional, and valuable, intelligence information, for America.



There are at least four reasons to cite your sources:

1)      To give credit;

2)      To assure readers about the accuracy of your facts;

3)      To show readers the research tradition that informs your work;

4)      To help readers follow or extend your work. (Turabian 2016, 135-136)



Citations, provide a reader, with verification, about who the author is, any given information is a resource. Citations-also allow a reader, to verify-if, the resource is: reliable, relatively new information, from an American source or overseas, etc. To say, that intelligence information, is collected, and them dispersed-to a great many, in a US intelligence network, with little or no cares/concerns, about who or what, the original resource was-is, some of the most: irresponsible, and frightening information-that, I have ever heard!



            In professional academic writing, there are certain situations, that legally require, a specific citation-to provide full attribution, and-for very good reasons (Turabian 2016, 136):

1)      When you quote words exactly for a source;

2)      When you paraphrase ideas;

3)      When you use any idea, data, or method attributable to any source you consulted. (Turabian 2016, 136)



It sounds, scary to me, for the US government, to encourage and permit, the sharing of undocumented intelligence information, among our US network, of professional intelligence officers. In regards, to the collection of: OSINT, my classroom text book indicates, that: OSINT-like any other field, of INT, is subject to the legal restrictions, of current US law-specifically stated:



Like any INT, OSINT is subject to legal, regulatory, and policy restrictions. OSINT professionals, whether within IC, law enforcement, or the private sector, must abide by these restrictions in order to conduct lawful OSINT exploitation that protects the civil rights and civil liberties of US persons. (Clark and Lowenthal 2016, 11)



In regards to US law, and references, and citations-and legally required attributions-in general, to the original source: “even if a copy right is not indicated- full attribution, is required, when- referring to, any-and-all pieces, of original writings, and communications. The following, is the full definition, of: US copyright law-as specifically stated, by the US government, regarding: “intellectual property:”

Copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States (title 17, U. S. Code) to the authors of “original works of authorship,” including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works. This protection is available to both published and unpublished works. Section 106 of the 1976 Copyright Act generally gives the owner of copyright the exclusive right to do and to authorize others. . . (US Copyright Office 2012, 1)

It makes me too uncomfortable, when our US government, refuses to abide by, US laws-I begin to worry, that, there may be, domestic terrorists, who have managed to obtain US citizenship-everywhere now.

        However, I should not be surprised, when the US FBI and CIA-refuse crime tips: by phone, by email, by fax, and online-to find out, that, they are collecting, copious amounts of: “intelligence information,” and, they have not a single care in the world, about where any of that information has originated. Honestly, I fear-that, if I knew more about US and US intelligence, as it is run by the government, that, I would only be more scared. US FBI and CIA, do nothing at all-as far as I can tell, to keep the US, or myself safe. Citations really matter.





References





Clark, Robert M., and Lowenthal, Mark M. 2016. The 5 Disciplines

of Intelligence Collection. CQ Press an Imprint of SAGE Publications, Inc.



Turabian, Kate L. 2013. A Manual for Writers of Research

Papers, Theses, and Dissertations: Chicago Style for Students & Researchers. 8th ed. The University of Chicago Press.



US Copyright Office. 2012. Copyright Basics. US Library of

Congress, May 2012. Accessed January 22, 2017. https://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ01.pdf

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