The Conflict

On September 11, 2001, the United States suffered a major surprise attack when terrorists hijacked and crashed four passenger airliners into buildings in New York City, Arlington, Virginia (near Washington, DC), and in a field in Pennsylvania. The U.S. intelligence community was criticized for not putting together intelligence on the planning of this most recent and deadly attack before it hit. It is commonly agreed that the U.S. intelligence community, whose legal charter dates from 1947, was created to prevent another strategic surprise like that of Pearl Harbor in 1941, to which the terrorist attack was likened. The 2001 attack raised serious questions about the capabilities of the intelligence community and its future role, giving new emphasis to a debate that began with the end of the Cold War in 1991.

Counterterrorism

• The United States has been actively...