The US Government has asserted that its intelligence agencies have improved their coordination and sharing of information with foreign partners in order to prevent any recurrence of 26/11 type of terror attacks.
A day after a US media investigation highlighted the collective failure of the intelligence agencies of India, US and Britain to “connect the dots” despite availability of a mass of data in the run-up to the Mumbai attacks, State Department deputy spokesperson Marie Harf said steps have been taken to “really improve” the ability of agencies to foil such attacks.
“Over the last six years, the intelligence community here in the United States has worked with all of our partners to make sure we’re best positioned to stop attacks like Mumbai before they ever happen again,” Harf said and spoke of the improved coordination and intelligence sharing in place.
“Often, intelligence is like trying to put together a puzzle without knowing what it’s supposed to look like at the end, not having all the pieces and having some that go to a different puzzle. I’ve heard that analogy used, and I think it’s particularly apt when it comes to Mumbai,” Harf said, adding: “It’s a challenge that we confront every day, but our intelligence community has in the wake of Mumbai taken steps with our partners and here at home to really improve their ability to prevent these kinds of attacks.”
Asked if the requisite synergy has been developed since the US, India and Britain all have so many agencies dealing with intelligence matters, Harf asserted: “Absolutely….Whether it’s the Indians or the British, we have very close intelligence partnerships. In the wake of Mumbai, we’ve taken additional steps to increase information sharing, again, to try and put all these puzzle pieces together to try and prevent something like this from happening. It is a tough challenge though, certainly, but we’re very committed to doing better here.”