The lack of assets is obviously due to the intelligence services’ inability to establish a network of informants capable of infiltrating extremist groups' organizational structures, tracking the movements and modus operandi of such outfits and recruiting members from within their ranks.
Intelligence agency leaders have failed to grasp the mentality, religious underpinnings and symbologies of organizations, particularly in the case of IS. This shortcoming has, in turn, affected the analysis of information received by Iraqi intelligence, a problem exacerbated by the dearth of analysts capable of understanding and predicting organizations' behavior.
In the short term, it will be difficult for Iraq to make progress in developing effective intelligence services. Regardless, the government, with the support of the parliament and other political forces, must take the first steps toward that end. It should do so by undertaking ambitious reorganizations and rehabilitation of the existing system while at the same time providing the agencies with the technical capabilities required to improve their performance and raise their level of competency.
It must also give them the political support necessary to safeguard their ability to combat and confront terrorism through innovative means.
(Shredding image via Shutterstock)
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