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CNN Live Event/Special

Target: Terrorism - The Role of Intelligence

Aired October 04, 2001 - 06:52   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says that intelligence, not military power, is going to be the decisive factor of the U.S. campaign against terrorism. And the U.S. intelligence community comprises much more than just the CIA.

Donna Kelley joins us now. She's got more on this intelligence community -- hi, Donna.

DONNA KELLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Leon. Thanks very much, and good morning to you, Carol, and good morning to you this morning.

The U.S. intelligence community consists of 13 government agencies and organizations responsible for carrying out all of the intelligence activities involving the United States government. It's a massive amount of information, as you can imagine, that's gathered by these arms of the federal government and a vital element in the federal investigation on terrorism.

The investigation into the recent terrorist attacks is testing the limits of the federal government's intelligence community. U.S. intelligence organizations are answering to many on the national level, from the president to the tactical level of the military forces deployed in the field.

Take a peek at this now. A couple of different ways they do this: Tactical entail has military objectives, and national intelligence is geared towards foreign policy and national security.

The CIA is at the top of the list of agencies involved in the U.S.'s current war on terrorism. It was established back in 1947 to conduct foreign intelligence analysis, and its new role is centrally focused on information leading to the location of Osama bin Laden, his terrorist cells and the prevention of future terrorist activities. The CIA supplies intelligence information to the president, the National Security Council and all officials who make and execute U.S. national security policy in this matter.

And the National Security Agency, or the NSA, is the most secretive of the nation's intelligence community. It's responsible for monitoring, decoding and translating foreign communications, and performing highly specialized activities to protect U.S. information systems. They have been gathering foreign intelligence information from the Middle East region and are the primary source of foreign language analysis for the intelligence community. High technology organization is the country's premiere code makers and code breakers.

The FBI is the lead federal law enforcement agency in the fight against terrorism in the United States and in the investigation into the recent acts of terrorism on American soil. They are heading up the domestic hunt for terrorists and their supporters. They're using surveillance and other means of information gathering. The CIA and NSA are actually barred from doing domestic investigations.

And finally, the National Reconnaissance Office is keeping an eye on the sky by using satellites to gather intelligence and follow happenings in the region. The NRO is working closely with the CIA and the Air Force.

And you might remember former Pennsylvania Governor Tim Ridge, he's the new head of Homeland Defense, has talked about coordinating information from all of these agencies.

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