Article Analysis Essay on What's the Harm in Intelligence Collection?

Introduction

Intelligence is associated with unethical practices when there is a misunderstanding or overuse of power by the officers. Over the last few years, countless arguments have come upon the abuse of power in this department. Most debates include the abuses in interrogation and mass surveillance that are operated secretly by the intelligence agencies. There is a need to present a reasonable ethical framework. It can be achieved by first defining the term intelligence and its role in a country. Cantarella (2016) defines intelligence as the process of safeguarding and maintaining a state's national security and its protection against threats. The purpose of security is part of a broad duty, the government holds to its citizens. In other words, intelligence is the only way that a government fulfills its duty to safeguard the rights and interests of its citizens. According to Cantarella (2016),

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"The process by which specific types of information important to national security are requested, collected, analysed, and provided to policymakers; the products of that process; the safeguarding of these processes and this information by counterintelligence activities; and the carrying out of operations as requested by lawful authorities" (Cantarella 2016 p. 4).

As intelligence still remains the most national affair, most private and public intelligence agencies are unknown, but they partner with government agencies. In the 2000s and 2008 in the Arab world, the Central Intelligence Agency conducted several human rights violations such as torture, murder, physical and sexual abuse. Interrogators at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba forced a male prisoner to wear female underwear on his head. The officers also attached a leash to his chains and scared him with military dogs. Abu Ghraib tactics were mistreatments such as rape, torture, murder, sodomy, physical and sexual abuse of detainees. These tactics are important to this article because they are mostly adopted by intelligence officers to retrieve information (Hersh, 2004 p.1). Abu Ghraib tactics were first adopted in Guantanamo Bay prison by the United States army and the Central Intelligence Agency. In addition, the ever-increasing use of technological surveillance, and the increased attention on the use of torture for intelligence collection purposes have all highlighted a need to make an explicit statement about what is and what is not permissible intelligence practice (White, 2005 p. 1).

There are several reasons why governments need intelligence. For instance, intelligence enables a government to fulfil its duty to its citizens. Intelligence helps to reduce the level of uncertainty in the country. The use of intelligence enables governments to obtain information which it would not be available through conventional means. Intelligence agencies are able to access information which is at times confidential. Retrieving confidential information requires a line of conduct (Hudson, 2017 p. 15). Some government agencies are restricted from accessing such information. Intelligence fulfils two requirements which include gathering and processing information that is relevant (Martin, 2017 p. 8). Although intelligence interrogation and gathering is important to obtain sensitive information to use in major cases such as terrorism, it is associated with unethical activities that are inhumane. This inhumane treatment may include torture, murder, physical and sexual abuse. The purpose of the essay is to assess intelligence gathering activities which are considered unethical. It will also set a context that shows the nature of intelligence and the activities that are linked to it. The article will also present an ethical framework that clarifies the conditions under which intelligence gathering activities are permissible and when they are forbidden.

Context

The last decade was associated with many debates due to increased mass surveillance, extraordinary rendition, and enhanced interrogation techniques. These changes create exceptional ethical concerns for the role of intelligence in Arab countries and western democracies such as the United States and Europe. The debate on the ethical perspective of intelligence still exists and it is currently controlled by opposing views. The International Red Cross and human-rights groups complain that the nature of the intelligence work is unethical (Hersh, 2004 p.1). However, this duty has to be carried out to protect national security and analyse sensitive information. Natural intelligence is the creation of digital world such as websites where the intelligence officers connect with the society. Opponents argue that natural intelligence is unethical and therefore it weakens the security and legitimacy of democratic states and should be prohibited. In the current world, the complex activities of intelligence are becoming increasingly obvious. The policy makers used intelligence information to protect national and international security (Coyne and Merrington, 2018 p. 2).

Government agencies conduct intelligence work on behalf of the country. The out-dated attention of national and foreign agencies for instance: Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Domestic agencies include the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Security Service (MI5). Technical agencies include the National Security Agencies (NSA) and, the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) spheres. The primary consumer of intelligence in a country is the executive branch of government. The government is the main determinant of how the process of intelligence functions, but by extension, it is applied to make decisions on the ethical and unethical behaviors involved in intelligence gathering activities. The policy-makers have to be sharp on the level of freedom it gives to intelligence agencies to successfully avoid threats with the risk of permitting too great an area that can cause compromised values and laws. Moreover, the government may greatly compromise the situation if it applies 'plausible deniability' which withdraws the purpose for direct approval. Plausible deniability was first used by CIA and it means avoid telling senior government officials about illegal CIA activities. These officials could then defend themselves if the activities were discovered sometimes the government applies the criteria without considering the potential ethical risks involved in a particular activity (US Legal, 2018 p.1). This raises the level of independence given to intelligence interference in the special context of intelligence; nevertheless, it produces legal and ethical concerns when an individual is imprisoned without a fair trial. (Lons, 2018 para. 6).The activities of intelligence are conducted with the highest level of secrecy. In this department secrecy is a necessary and key feature of how the agencies are authorized to perform their activities. Although secrecy influences on agencies' ability to engage in immoral activities, it is required for intelligence services to work effectively. For instance, in the modern world, intelligence depends on open sources that the information becomes confidential once it reaches the intelligence agencies. Secrecy does not only apply to information, but also to the sources of these materials. Intelligence is classified into defence intelligence agency and artificial intelligence agency. Intelligence is based on classified materials to ensure the level of knowledge essential to stop and caution against hostile pressures ( Cantarella, 2016 p. 10).

Over the recent decades, the methods of intelligence collecting activities have changed and reflect not only the type of danger being confronted, but also public and political view. The period of the Cold War was associated with spies and relied on human intelligence, moles and double agents to obtain information from suspects. In the 1960s there were several advancements in technology that introduced different forms of communications as the use of technology was more reliable compared to the human factor. This became more practical after the 9/11 attack in the United States that stressed the need for new technology to combat such threats posed by terrorist groups (Cantarella 2016 p. 15). The public also pressured the government agencies to prevent further attacks.

The Rationale

The article provides a general argument on why the process of intelligence collection might be considered ethically unacceptable. This will discuss ways in which intelligence gathering causes "harm" to some individuals. Upon understanding this issue, it will then be possible to identify cases when intelligence-gathering activities are unacceptable. The article will then analyse conditions when intelligence gathering is permissible or acceptable. When focusing on intelligence agencies, it should also be noted that the connected nature of current threats requires the involvement of most non-security-related agencies. Most branches of government do not provide information but trace evidence to build legal cases against terrorists. Cyber espionage is a cyber-attack that steals sensitive, classified data or intellectual properties to achieve an advantage over a government entity or an individual. Cyber threats are criminal offenses that are committed through the internet. These include accessing personal emails and accounts without consent. These are some of computer crimes that intelligence uses to access sensitive information without the permission of the owner. Modern departments and ministries may need rapid intelligence capacity to deal with the crisis and the devastating situation involving citizens. Most intelligence actors such as officers are involved in activities that are unethical when collecting information. The society holds some of these behaviours as unethical or morally unpleasant. They include torture and harassment of suspects, rapid or mental harm which may be caused by mental harassment or manipulation (Olson, Soldz, and Davis, 2008 p.3). An action is regarded as ethical if it is moral and acceptable as determined by the values and rules of a particular community. The basic concept of ethics can be defined as an established behavioural principles based on specific beliefs concerning the duty of intelligence in society. These principles include national laws that restrict behaviours, in addition to societal values and norms relating to human rights. Human rights protect human beings and their dignity in every circumstance. It is a human right for every suspect to receive a fair and open trial in a court of law to determine whether he is innocent or guilty. The judges are required to assess the provided information without discrimination to make a final decision. United Nations conventions against torture include prohibiting torture in all circumstances and to regulate the punishment and extradition of tortures. When assessing ethics in intelligence gathering the major discussion focuses on how gathering intelligence information harm individuals (Hudson, 2017 p. 14). There are many cases where the actions of interrogation officers may be regarded as unpleasant or unethical. For instance, if the officers arrest a suspect and flow him to an overseas location for interrogation. This is contrary to human rights law and therefore it is indirect harm. Ethics and law are closely related although they are distinc...