Counter-Intelligence and Security
| Author | Daniel P. King |
| Published date | 01 July 1993 |
| Date | 01 July 1993 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/0032258X9306600311 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
DANIEL
P.KING
COUNTER-INTELLIGENCE AND
SECURITY
The enemies of the liberal democracies for the past three-quarters of a
century havebeenreplacedwithnewenemies
which
aremorefrightening
and moredangerous than those thathavecome before.
Forthedemocracies of the West,for the
newly
emergent democracies
ofEastem
Europe,
forthe
former
Sovietempire, these
fanatics
-whatever
their
religious
orpolitical
persuasion
-continuetoprey
upon
our
democratic
institutions withincreasingly deadlyresults. In a recent week,terrorist
bombings haveoccurred in
London,
NewYork,Cairo and
Russia.
Terrorism - centred largely in our major cities - is their
weapon,
replacing the nuclearthreatof the ColdWar. Theseantagonists willnot
play out their games on the battlefields of Europe with power and
territorial gaintheirmotivation. Thenewthreattosecurity isdemonstrated
by the destruction of Pan
American
World
Airways
Flight 103 over
Lockerbie, the
bombings
inParisinthe
1980s
by
Syrian
security officials
posing
asdiplomats, and bythe
IRA.
terrorist campaigns inBritain. The
UnitedStatesisnolonger
immune:
terrorists havesucceeded inexploding
adestructive bomb in the
World
Trade Centre in New
York.
The
democracies arequickly understanding the needforsecurity services and
counter-intelligenceactivities topenetrate andneutralize thearsenalofthe
terrorist.
Securityservicesare
necessary
tomonitor
known
orsuspected terrorists
and provide thecontrols to restricttheir activities. Counter-intelligence
agencies can infiltrate terrorist
groups
to destabilize and subvert them.
Bothare
complementary
forces,
but
perform
distinctlydifferentoperations.
This article discusses the relationship
between
counter-intelligence and
security and presents amodality for cooperation
between
thetwo.
Itmayseemillogical tocallcounter-intelligence a typeof intelligence,
sincewe
usually
thinkof
intelligence
as
knowledge
andcounter-intelligence
asanactivity ororganizationactingagainst
forces
seeking
such
knowledge.
Yet
members
of the intelligence community will agree that they must
produce counter-intelligence information (knowledge) as well as take
counter-intelligence measures (activity) and devote personnel to these
duties(organization). Thisthreefold parallelviewof counter-intelligence
gives it a unity
which
obviates the use of a
number
of makeshift terms
invented in the past for someof its aspects.
The objectives of counter-intelligence are to assess the country's
vulnerability to
foreign
espionage, to watch for sabotage and for those
anxious to
undermine
theestablished systemofgovernment. Itsdutiesare
to
watch,
listenand
learn;
thepowersofarrestandprosecution lie withthe
police.
Sincethemilitary, political andeconomic
strength
ofa country islinked
306 The Police
JOUI7UlI
July 1993
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