Week 14

 Week 14: How the Intelligence Community Prevents Terrorism in the Homeland.

The US government has fairly well defined roles and responsibilities for the agencies conducting counterterrorism activities. Lesson One defined and categorized four basic support roles of homeland security intelligence: Policy, Prevent, Protect, and Response. The prevent role includes military, covert action, and diplomatic activities (including law enforcement) activities

Covert Action is nothing new to the USG. In January 1790, President George Washington, in his first State of the Union address, asked Congress for funding for foreign intelligence gathering. Washington successfully made the argument that the $40,000 in funds were necessary to address foreign threats to the Nation. Congress established the Contingent Fund of Foreign Intercourse, more commonly known as the Secret Service Fund. For the next century the fund would be used to support information gathering and covert action.

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HLS 476 Homeland Security Intelligence Copyright © by The American flag, DHS flag, and Border Patrol flag flying high in McAllen, Texas. Photo Credit: Barry Bahler/DHS is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.