History & stories of success Essay

tarradiddle is shaped by stories of success and failure in contradictory policy. What we however fail, as the public, to really perceive is the cause foundation the success or failure of an operation. The reason behind either smudge lies in the investigative work thousands of agents, analysts and administrational officials conduct. raw(a)sworthiness is a truly essential source of valuable information for the governments who base their actions mainly on these reports. But what happens if the tidings and analytical work is maltreat?What are the source-at-able consequences of conducting a foreign policy operation based on wrong news show? Is it possible that science poop be in this demeanor intentionally misrepresented to serve the goals of a policy that would otherwise not live been approved of by the public as some conspiracies seize? And what kind of real life intelligence information service failure events has history cognise as a direct result of false informat ion? Intelligence failure git have disastrous consequences on large numbers racket of people and hurt both(prenominal) the image and well-doing of a nation.The most famed cases of intelligence failure in recent history are the weapon of mass destruction false reports in Iraq, the 9/11 intelligence failure to resist the event and the famous contend of Vietnam whose failure has and continues to brand the American foreign policy as doubtful. Each of these events has had its impacts on the regular lives of millions of people both in the linked States and in places as far as Afghanistan and Iraq. And from each one of these events has take aim to the death of thousands of American citizens, soldiers and millions of foreign citizens.Could this have been avoidable if the intelligence did not fail? Intelligence in its broadest definition is information and in the case of politics it means information that sheds light on the report of national security threats. It follows therefore t hat intelligence gathering is essential to the cognitive operation of any country and in the case of the United States as a valet de chambre super power, it is critical and existential. But as stated originally intelligence failure has damaged the image of the United States in an most un-repairable manner.The wrong reports about the presence of WMD in Iraq for instance cartroad to the killing of hundreds of thousands and the destabilization of a region that has become as a result the hotbed of terroristic activity. Failing to gather the intelligence needed to know ahead about 9/11 and be able to prevent it go bad also to the death of thousands of Americans and the invasion of Afghanistan an action whose consequences is too detailed to go into now.Vietnam is an older case but remains nevertheless interesting to savor closely at since the consequences of the intelligence failure in this case lead to the death of millions and a contend that went on for twenty five years. It is juiceless to reflect on the fact that this started with a wrong report from the intelligence agency, something that has lead the conspiracies to target the United States for creating cheap excuses to invade other countries and thereby damaged it international reputation. The Vietnam War was fought surrounded by the communist North Vietnam and the government of South Vietnam that was supported by the ground forces.The war was a war between capitalism and communism. It was a war between the Soviet Union and the United States. It was a struggle for world wide power between dickens superpowers engaged in a heated competition that has come to be characterized and termed as the era of the Cold War. The USA declared to have entered the war to prevent communism from taking over the south of Vietnam but historians and political analysts have since then come up with critical arguments on how the war initially started based on wrong intelligence.President Johnson was officially tending(p ) permission to attack the Vietcong after the intelligence received about a supposed second attack on U. S nautical vessels in the Gulf of Tonkin. The attacks actually never happened and the war was thus based on a false report. The Tonkin incident lead to major US social function in the region that would continue for another quarter of a century. The intelligence reports were simply misconceiveed. The intercept that apparently proved the second attack was wrong translated according to recently published records of the account.The Vietnamese word military operations can also mean long movement and what the intercept actually refers to is not a second attack on U. S naval vessels but just the presence of two North Vietnamese police boats at a distance. What remains critically confusing in the outcome of such an explanation is the governments response to the event. Johnson moved the USA into a war that lasted for years and cost billions of dollars and thousands of American and V ietnamese lives on the foundation of a wrong and unverified intelligence report that has come to be one of the most embarrassing intelligence failures in U.S history. The question is how could this happen? How does intelligence failure occur? Intelligence failures can be categorized into several groups. Overestimation of information is the first case. The magnification of a report can lead to wrong conclusions and thus an intelligence failure. This happened in the Tonkin. The opposite case of underestimation of intelligence where the governmental agencies misinterpret the information and therefore give the enemy an opportunity to stay a step ahead is also possible.Over-confidence is the third case. The USA displayed too some(prenominal) confidence in the perfection of its intelligence system and its ability to cajole the war quickly. Overestimation and over-confidence lead to the disastrous war of Vietnam that could all have been preventable if the intelligence was verified accur ately. Intelligence failure can be caused by several factors all affected by the political melody and sentiments regarding the target of the intelligence.Prejudice and fear can obstruct the judgment and choose about an underestimation or overestimation of the enemys potence and intentions. This is how intelligence failure occurs and its consequences are the best exemplified in the case of Vietnam, Iraq and 9/11. The results of misinterpreted or missed intelligence can cause a plentitude of damage to a country and the United States as a world power needs to pay extra attention to the effectiveness of its intelligence regarding the effects a wrong foreign policy move can have on its status and power.ReferencesGrier, P. (2008). Declassified study puts Vietnam events in new light. Retrieved July 1,2009, from http//www. csmonitor. com/2008/0109/p04s01-usmi. html Goodman, MA. (2008). Failure of intelligence the decline and fall of the CIA. Rowman and Littlefield Publishers. Reynolds, P . (2004). Long History of intelligence failures. Retrieved July 2, 2009, from http//news. bbc. co. uk/2/hi/middle_east/3883605. stm