Bergen Community College Intelligence Process from Zero Dark

After reading the assigned chapters (1,4,5) in Lowenthal, Intelligence: From Secrets to Policy, 6th Edition (2014) and (1,2,7) in Shulsky and Schmitt, Silent Warfare (2002),[1] and watching the film Zero Dark Thirty),[2] please answer the following questions in a 3-5 page paper (minimum of 1,500 words without endnotes/footnotes). This paper should be in the form of a coherent narrative with an introduction and a conclusion, not four separate unconnected answers.

1. In Zero Dark Thirty, we see several types of intelligence being collected. Using the film as a case study, describe what types of “INT” are collected, as outlined by Lowenthal in Chapter 5. According to the film, which types of intelligence were most useful in finding Osama bin Laden? [3] Explain the strengths and weaknesses of each type of intelligence you observed in the film.

1. What does Zero Dark Thirty tell us about the intelligence process described by Lowenthal in Chapter 4. In particular, how does feedback influence collecting and processing intelligence?

1. Lowenthal (Chapter 1) and Shulsky and Schmitt (Chapter 1) outline their views of the relationship between intelligence and policy. How does intelligence collecting interact with national counter-terrorism policy, as depicted in Zero Dark Thirty?

1. What was more important in the search for Osama bin Laden as depicted in Zero Dark Thirty: learning the secrets of his inner circle, or analysis and observation of a combination of secret and non-secret evidence? In your answer refer to the discussion of two views of intelligence in Chapter 7 of Shulsky and Schmitt.

Zero Dark Thirty is available on Netflix and Amazon Prime ($2.99 rental) among other platforms. It is most likely available for free from your local public library as it is in the New York Public Library. The physical DVD is available at Montclair’s Sprague Library and can also be rented for $2.99 from their Vudu streaming option.

Citations should be in endnotes in the Chicago style as explained elsewhere in this module. Endnotes are generated automatically by your word processing program and appear at the end of the document rather than at the bottom of the page. If you are unable to figure out endnotes you may use footnotes in the Chicago style, but you will need to add ½ page of text (your paper would be a minimum of 3.5 pages). You do not need a bibliography (list of works cited) as the complete citation information will be in your endnotes.

You must cite the text with a page number and the video with a frame (time of the scene ex: 01:04:00 would be one hour and four minutes into the movie). Examples of citations can be seen below.

This assignment is designed to test your knowledge of the reading and ability to apply it to a case study and use of sources will constitute half of your grade. I take off ½ grade per day for lateness (your A paper will be an A- paper on Friday, a B+ paper on Saturday, a B paper on Sunday, and so on).

Please reread the section on plagiarism in the syllabus. I am very strict about this. Anyone who cuts and pastes their paper from the Internet, any written source, including their own previous paper, or another student’s paper, will fail the course and be referred to the Dean’s Office for disciplinary proceedings.

All papers go through TurnItIn on Canvas and must be submitted as Word documents.

[1] Abram N. Shulsky and Gary J. Schmitt, Silent Warfare: Understanding the World of Intelligence, Third Edition (Washington, D.C.: Potomac Books, 2002), 1-40, 159-168.

[2] Zero Dark Thirty, Directed by Kathryn Bigelow, (Culver City, CA: Sony Pictures, 2012).

[3] Due to the difficulty of transliterating Arabic names into English, there are different ways of spelling the terrorist’s name. Although typically spelled Osama bin Laden in the media, U.S. intelligence agencies spell his name, Usama bin Laden. This is why he is referred to as “UBL” in the film