Russian Italian Mafia

Russian and Italian Mafia Comparison

Robert G. Osnoe

INTL411, American Public University

22 June 2011

The terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, which have been called a major security, law enforcement and intelligence failure,[1] prompted the largest reorganization of the intelligence community since 1947.[2] This reorganization knocked down the “wall” between the Intelligence Community and federal law enforcement agencies allowing for an increase in intelligence support for Homeland Security that did not exist prior to 9/11.

One of the most important developments that have improved the intelligence support for Homeland Security since September 11, 2001 has been the creation of a national network of State and Major Urban Area Fusion Centers. The National Strategy for Information Sharing, issued by the White House in October 2007, specifically designated fusion centers as the primary focal point for integrating homeland security information vertically and horizontally across geographical and jurisdictional boundaries.[3] Additionally, the Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has called the national network of fusion centers “the centerpiece of state, local, [and] federal intelligence sharing for the future.”[4] Fusion centers play a critical role in protecting the homeland because they are an effective and efficient mechanism for sharing information between the federal government and State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial (SLTT) partners and because they are capable of developing actionable intelligence. This is even more important now since the threat environment facing the United States has fundamentally evolved from one that primarily emanates from outside our borders to one that increasingly comes from within our communities.[5] Events such as the Fort Hood, Texas shootings in 2009 by Major Nidal Malik Hasan; the attempted car bombing in New York City’s Times Square in May 2010 by Faisal Shahzad (a United States...