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43-759: Servizio per le Informazioni e la Sicurezza Militare (abbreviated SISMI , Military Intelligence and Security Service ) was the military intelligence agency of Italy from 1977–2007. With the reform of the Italian Intelligence Services approved on 1 August 2007, SISMI was replaced by Agenzia Informazioni e Sicurezza Esterna ( AISE ). Since the end of World War II, Italian intelligence agencies have been reorganized many times ( SIM 1900–49, SIFAR 1949–65, SID 1965–77) and last SISDE (civil) and SISMI (military) from 1977 to 2007, in an attempt to increase their effectiveness and bring them more fully under civilian control . The agency

86-596: A joint session of the United States Congress . Presiding over this joint session was the House speaker , Dennis Hastert , accompanied by Dick Cheney , the vice president , in his capacity as the president of the Senate . It outlined justifications for the 2003 invasion of Iraq . It began his discussion of the " war on terror " by asserting, as he had after September 11, 2001 and in his previous State of

129-459: A need-to-know basis in order to protect the sources and methods from foreign traffic analysis. Analysis consists of assessment of an adversary's capabilities and vulnerabilities. In a real sense, these are threats and opportunities. Analysts generally look for the least defended or most fragile resource that is necessary for important military capabilities. These are then flagged as critical vulnerabilities. For example, in modern mechanized warfare,

172-652: A constant tension directed to its final goal: knowledge». Its coat of arms was granted by a decree of the President of the Republic dated 28 January 2004. In 2004, Nicola Calipari , a high-ranking SISMI hostage negotiator, was killed at a U.S. Army checkpoint in Baghdad by Mario Lozano , purportedly after a communication breakdown between the Italian intelligence community and the occupying forces. In 2005, SISMI

215-403: A continuously-updated list of typical vulnerabilities. Critical vulnerabilities are then indexed in a way that makes them easily available to advisors and line intelligence personnel who package this information for policy-makers and war-fighters. Vulnerabilities are usually indexed by the nation and military unit with a list of possible attack methods. Critical threats are usually maintained in

258-656: A country. Photointerpreters generally maintain catalogs of munitions factories, military bases and crate designs in order to interpret munition shipments and inventories. Most intelligence services maintain or support groups whose only purpose is to keep maps. Since maps also have valuable civilian uses, these agencies are often publicly associated or identified as other parts of the government. Some historic counterintelligence services, especially in Russia and China, have intentionally banned or placed disinformation in public maps; good intelligence can identify this disinformation. It

301-510: A free people, who know that freedom is the right of every person and the future of every nation. The liberty we prize is not America's gift to the world, it is God's gift to humanity." He spoke to the 108th United States Congress . Just before the President addressed Iraq in the speech, he spent five paragraphs addressing his initiative to fight AIDS in Africa . The Democratic response

344-503: A history of reckless aggression, with ties to terrorism, with great potential wealth, will not be permitted to dominate a vital region and threaten the United States." In this context, Bush also said, "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa ", a line which became a source of contention in the later Plame affair . The domestic brutality of Hussein and

387-487: A nation may be unavailable from outside the country. This is why most intelligence services attach members to foreign service offices. Some industrialized nations also eavesdrop continuously on the entire radio spectrum, interpreting it in real time. This includes not only broadcasts of national and local radio and television, but also local military traffic, radar emissions and even microwaved telephone and telegraph traffic, including satellite traffic. The U.S. in particular

430-479: A prioritized file, with important enemy capabilities analyzed on a schedule set by an estimate of the enemy's preparation time. For example, nuclear threats between the USSR and the U.S. were analyzed in real time by continuously on-duty staffs. In contrast, analysis of tank or army deployments are usually triggered by accumulations of fuel and munitions, which are monitored every few days. In some cases, automated analysis

473-618: Is commonplace for the intelligence services of large countries to read every published journal of the nations in which it is interested, and the main newspapers and journals of every nation. This is a basic source of intelligence. It is also common for diplomatic and journalistic personnel to have a secondary goal of collecting military intelligence. For western democracies, it is extremely rare for journalists to be paid by an official intelligence service, but they may still patriotically pass on tidbits of information they gather as they carry on their legitimate business. Also, much public information in

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516-712: Is focused on support or denial of intelligence at operational tiers. The operational tier is below the strategic level of leadership and refers to the design of practical manifestation. Formally defined as "Intelligence that is required for planning and conducting campaigns and major operations to accomplish strategic objectives within theaters or operational areas." It aligns with the Operational Level of Warfare, defined as "The level of warfare at which campaigns and major operations are planned, conducted, and sustained to achieve strategic objectives within theaters or other operational areas." The term operation intelligence

559-464: Is focused on support to operations at the tactical level and would be attached to the battlegroup. At the tactical level, briefings are delivered to patrols on current threats and collection priorities. These patrols are then debriefed to elicit information for analysis and communication through the reporting chain. Tactical Intelligence is formally defined as "intelligence required for the planning and conduct of tactical operations", and corresponds with

602-597: Is known to maintain satellites that can intercept cell-phone and pager traffic, usually referred to as the ECHELON system. Analysis of bulk traffic is normally performed by complex computer programs that parse natural language and phone numbers looking for threatening conversations and correspondents. In some extraordinary cases, undersea or land-based cables have been tapped as well. More exotic secret information, such as encryption keys, diplomatic message traffic, policy and orders of battle are usually restricted to analysts on

645-465: Is performed in real time on automated data traffic. Packaging threats and vulnerabilities for decision-makers is a crucial part of military intelligence. A good intelligence officer will stay very close to the policy-maker or war fighter to anticipate their information requirements and tailor the information needed. A good intelligence officer will also ask a fairly large number of questions in order to help anticipate needs. For an important policy-maker,

688-502: Is used within law enforcement to refer to intelligence that supports long-term investigations into multiple, similar targets. Operational intelligence, in the discipline of law enforcement intelligence, is concerned primarily with identifying, targeting, detecting and intervening in criminal activity. The use within law enforcement and law enforcement intelligence is not scaled to its use in general intelligence or military/naval intelligence, being more narrowed in scope. Tactical intelligence

731-543: The Ministry of the Interior ), also involved SISMI, unless the security threat came from organized crime. Its duties included: SISMI's motto, as seen on its logo, was " Arcana intellego " ( Latin for "Understanding hidden things"). The verb " intellego ", which literally means "I comprehend", was chosen because «it evokes the noble root of intelligence, a discipline aimed at unravelling mysteries and holds in itself

774-604: The Syndicat de la magistrature French union, who is married to Italian magistrate Mario Vaudano who works at the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF). Military intelligence Areas of study may include the operational environment, hostile, friendly and neutral forces, the civilian population in an area of combat operations, and other broader areas of interest. Intelligence activities are conducted at all levels, from tactical to strategic, in peacetime,

817-584: The intelligence cycle . 2003 State of the Union address The 2003 State of the Union Address was given by the 43rd president of the United States , George W. Bush , on January 28, 2003, at 9:00 p.m. EST , in the chamber of the United States House of Representatives to the 108th United States Congress . It was Bush's second State of the Union Address and his third speech to

860-579: The Italian intelligence was divided into internal and foreign. SISMI was responsible for intelligence and security activities involving the military defence of Italy and for the integrity of the Italian State. SISMI reported to the Italian Ministry of Defense and operated both inside and outside of Italy's borders. It was feasible that domestic Intelligence and Security, which normally fell under SISDE's jurisdiction (since it reported to

903-767: The SISMI director vouched for the documents' authenticity at the meeting; as a result, the White House attempted to insert a reference to uranium from Africa in President Bush's upcoming address to the United Nations, scheduled for 12 September 2002. The CIA removed the reference 24 hours before the address was given. In bypassing the CIA, Pollari ignored the established protocol for contacts between Italian and American intelligence agencies. President Bush later used

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946-652: The Tactical Level of Warfare, itself defined as "the level of warfare at which battles and engagements are planned and executed to achieve military objectives assigned to tactical units or task forces". Intelligence should respond to the needs of leadership , based on the military objective and operational plans. The military objective provides a focus for the estimate process, from which a number of information requirements are derived. Information requirements may be related to terrain and impact on vehicle or personnel movement, disposition of hostile forces, sentiments of

989-439: The U.S. military, Joint Publication 2-0 (JP 2-0) states: "The six categories of intelligence operations are: planning and direction; collection; processing and exploitation; analysis and production; dissemination and integration; and evaluation and feedback." Many of the most important facts are well known or may be gathered from public sources. This form of information collection is known as open-source intelligence . For example,

1032-532: The Union , that "the gravest danger facing America and the world, is outlaw regimes that seek and possess nuclear, chemical and biological weapons." In 2002, Bush had laid out the " Axis of Evil ", touching on Iran and North Korea before elaborating on Iraq . The 2003 speech would focus entirely on Iraq, in parallel with an ongoing campaign in the United Nations for support on an Iraq intervention. Bush said that Saddam Hussein , "a brutal dictator, with

1075-672: The area in question, such as geography , demographics and industrial capacities. Strategic Intelligence is formally defined as "intelligence required for the formation of policy and military plans at national and international levels", and corresponds to the Strategic Level of Warfare, which is formally defined as "the level of warfare at which a nation, often as a member of a group of nations, determines national or multinational (alliance or coalition) strategic security objectives and guidance, then develops and uses national resources to achieve those objectives." Operational intelligence

1118-613: The benefits of liberty and freedom for the Iraqi people were briefly noted near the end of the speech. He began with, "In all these days of promise and days of reckoning, we can be confident. In a whirlwind of change and hope and peril, our faith is sure, our resolve is firm, and our union is strong." In the middle of the speech, he said, "In Afghanistan, we helped liberate an oppressed people. And we will continue helping them secure their country, rebuild their society, and educate all their children — boys and girls." He ended with, "Americans are

1161-500: The detailed act and carry it out. Once hostilities begin, target selection often moves into the upper end of the military chain of command. Once ready stocks of weapons and fuel are depleted, logistic concerns are often exported to civilian policy-makers. The processed intelligence information is disseminated through database systems, intel bulletins and briefings to the different decision-makers. The bulletins may also include consequently resulting information requirements and thus conclude

1204-404: The hierarchy of political and military activity. Strategic intelligence is concerned with broad issues such as economics, political assessments, military capabilities and intentions of foreign nations (and, increasingly, non-state actors ). Such intelligence may be scientific, technical, tactical, diplomatic or sociological , but these changes are analyzed in combination with known facts about

1247-405: The intelligence officer will have a staff to which research projects can be assigned. Developing a plan of attack is not the responsibility of intelligence, though it helps an analyst to know the capabilities of common types of military units. Generally, policy-makers are presented with a list of threats and opportunities. They approve some basic action, and then professional military personnel plan

1290-447: The judiciary investigation, a SISMI-run black operation targeting centre-left politician Romano Prodi and a vast domestic surveillance program was uncovered. Pompa prevailed upon the newspaper Libero to print allegations that Prodi, when serving as European Commissioner, had authorized the CIA prison flights via Italy. Targeted in the surveillance program were La Repubblica reporters Giuseppe D'Avanzo and Carlo Bonini , who broke

1333-438: The local population and capabilities of the hostile order of battle . In response to the information requirements, analysts examine existing information, identifying gaps in the available knowledge. Where gaps in knowledge exist, the staff may be able to task collection assets to target the requirement. Analysis reports draw on all available sources of information, whether drawn from existing material or collected in response to

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1376-403: The logistics chain for a military unit's fuel supply is often the most vulnerable part of a nation's order of battle. Human intelligence, gathered by spies, is usually carefully tested against unrelated sources. It is notoriously prone to inaccuracy. In some cases, sources will just make up imaginative stories for pay, or they may try to settle grudges by identifying personal enemies as enemies of

1419-423: The national legislature. Among these were: Nicolò Pollari himself would later be indicted on 5 December 2006 and sentenced to 10 years in jail on February 12, 2013. Marco Mancini was sentenced to 9 years in jail. They appealed against this ruling. On 16 February 2007, an Italian judge ordered twenty-six Americans and five Italians (including Pollari) to stand trial over the case on 8 June 2007. [3] As part of

1462-559: The overall intelligence value after careful analysis. The tonnage and basic weaponry of most capital ships and aircraft are also public, and their speeds and ranges can often be reasonably estimated by experts, often just from photographs. Ordinary facts like the lunar phase on particular days or the ballistic range of common military weapons are also very valuable to planning, and are habitually collected in an intelligence library. A great deal of useful intelligence can be gathered from photointerpretation of detailed high-altitude pictures of

1505-566: The period of transition to war, and during a war itself. Most governments maintain a military intelligence capability to provide analytical and information collection personnel in both specialist units and from other arms and services. The military and civilian intelligence capabilities collaborate to inform the spectrum of political and military activities. Personnel performing intelligence duties may be selected for their analytical abilities and personal intelligence before receiving formal training. Intelligence operations are carried out throughout

1548-537: The population, ethnic make-up and main industries of a region are extremely important to military commanders, and this information is usually public. It is however imperative that the collector of information understands that what is collected is "information", and does not become intelligence until after an analyst has evaluated and verified this information. Collection of read materials, composition of units or elements, disposition of strength, training, tactics, personalities (leaders) of these units and elements contribute to

1591-518: The requirement. The analysis reports are used to inform the remaining planning staff, influencing planning and seeking to predict adversary intent. This process is described as Collection Co-ordination and Intelligence Requirement Management (CCIRM). The process of intelligence has four phases: collection, analysis, processing and dissemination. In the United Kingdom these are known as direction, collection, processing and dissemination. In

1634-400: The same discredited information when delivering his January 2003 State of the Union address . In July 2006, the Italian judiciary power issued arrest warrants for several SISMI officials involved in the joint CIA-SISMI operation resulting in the unlawful extraordinary rendition of Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr , which SISMI Director Pollari had formally denied in testimony before a committee of

1677-550: The state that is paying for the intelligence. However, human intelligence is often the only form of intelligence that provides information about an opponent's intentions and rationales, and it is therefore often uniquely valuable to successful negotiation of diplomatic solutions. In some intelligence organizations, analysis follows a procedure. First, general media and sources are screened to locate items or groups of interest, and then their location, capabilities, inputs and environment are systematically assessed for vulnerabilities using

1720-527: The yellowcake forgery story. Italian magistrates searching the SISMI's headquarters in August 2007 found documents proving that the intelligence agency had spied over various European magistrates between 2001 and 2006, whom it considered carrying a "destabilization" potential. These included the Medel , a European association of magistrates, as well as three French judges, including Anne Crenier, former president of

1763-461: Was SISMI's second-last director; he resigned on 20 November 2006 after being indicted in the Abu Omar case , so Prime Minister Romano Prodi replaced him with Admiral Bruno Branciforte . Admiral Bruno Branciforte was SISMI's last director, in charge until 3 August 2007. With the reform of the Italian Intelligence Services approved on 1 August 2007 the military intelligence was eliminated, and

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1806-403: Was established as part of a broader reform of the Italian intelligence community, which represented the latest in a long string of government attempts to effectively manage Italy's intelligence agencies. The first director of the service was Giuseppe Santovito (1978–1981), succeeded by General Nino Lugaresi was SISMI's director from 1981 to 1984; he testified on Gladio . General Nicolò Pollari

1849-424: Was implicated in the yellowcake forgery scandal. The forged documents purporting to detail an Iraqi purchase of yellowcake uranium from Niger were given to a "cutout" named Rocco Martino by a Colonel in SISMI, Antonio Nucera. The head of SISMI, after claiming his agency received the documents from external sources, met with then-Deputy National Security Advisor, Stephen Hadley , on 9 September 2002. Reportedly,

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