How the Election is Showing us What's Wrong with the Intelligence Community

Ever since last March, when terrorist bombings in Madrid affected the national elections in Spain, the United States has been concerned about a terrorist attack leading up to its elections, on November 2. The problem is different intelligence agencies are getting conflicting information. The CIA previously had discredited a person who warned of such an attack. On Saturday, however, the FBI made arrests and investigated leads that could suggest such an attack. Nothing specific has been discovered about potential attacks, including where, who, how, and when the attacks would take place. The problem, however, lies in the disagreement between the CIA and the FBI. How can the government defend our country if they cannot agree on such general principles as the likelihood of an attack? This incident demonstrates terrible efficiency in the intelligence community; both agencies spend time investigating only to reach conflicting conclusions. Those intelligence reforms are coming, and they cannot come fast enough.

Works Consulted
Arrests Made in Possible Election Day Plot. 24 Oct. 2004. Fox News. 24 Oct. 2004
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,136410,00.html.