Human Intelligence Vs Signals Intelligence

There is nothing more challenging than to try and answer a question that has no reference and requires one to force themselves to contemplate unknown outcomes. This serves as the basis of how we ask the question of how does the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC) make and formulate assumptions, and by what means are they used in implementing enhanced analytical and collection techniques and methodologies. Additionally, how technologies and methods are applied in forecasting analytical and collection needs based on anticipatory analysis to monitor future wars, civil wars, and social and ethnic conflicts that could invite war.
When asking an analyst what assumptions are they will more than likely respond; it is when they do not have all the information that they need to make a decision or accurate …show more content…
This is critical when trying to apply the many aspects of the individual intelligence disciplines to an area undergoing a civil war, or areas of hostility such as the area associated with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in the Middle East.
Having different assumptions for each of the intelligence disciplines is quite common, and it is up to the individual analyst to combine them into a coherent form. Human Intelligence (HUMINT) may have one assumption based upon personal interaction with human sources, whereas Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) could have one based on Cellular Telephone intercepts or other communications. Geospatial Intelligence (GEOINT) could have one based on persistent observations from an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), or a static observation from National Technical Means (NTM) or commercial satellites. Regardless of the origination of the assumption, we should be able to use it to aid us in the implementation and application of advanced analytics and collection methodologies. In today’s