"In August 2004, the President established the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) to serve as the primary organization in the United States Government (USG) for integrating and analyzing all intelligence pertaining to terrorism and counterterrorism (CT) and to conduct strategic operational planning by integrating all instruments of national power. In December 2004, Congress codified the NCTC in the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act (IRTPA) and placed the NCTC in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Located at the Liberty Crossing Building in Northern Virginia, the NCTC is a multi-agency organization dedicated to eliminating the terrorist threat to US interests at home and abroad"--Web site.

This is a print on demand edition of a hard to find publication. The Nat. Counter-Terrorism Center (NCTC) was established in 2004 to ensure that info. from any source about potential terrorist acts against the U.S. could be made available to analysts and that appropriate responses could be planned. Investigations of the 9/11 attacks had demonstrated that info. possessed by different agencies had not been shared and thus that disparate indications of the looming threat had not been connected and warning had not been provided. The NCTC is composed of analysts with backgrounds in many gov¿t. agencies and has access to various agency databases. Contents of this report: Background; NCTC Charter; Ongoing Activities; Assessments of NCTC; Two Recent Incidents; Congressional Concerns.

This Interagency Threat Assessment and Coordination Group (ITACG) Intelligence Guide for First Responders is designed to assist state, local, tribal law enforcement, firefighting, homeland security, and appropriate private sector personnel in accessing and understanding Federal counterterrorism, homeland security, and weapons of mass destruction intelligence reporting. Most of the information contained in this guide was compiled, derived, and adapted from existing Intelligence Community and open source references. The ITACG consists of state, local, and tribal first responders and federal intelligence analysts from the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, working at the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) to enhance the sharing of federal counterterrorism, homeland security, and weapons of mass destruction information with state, local, and tribal consumers of intelligence.

The National Counter-terrorism Center (NCTC) was established in 2004 to ensure that information from any source about potential terrorist acts against the U.S. could be made available to analysts and that appropriate responses could be planned. As a component of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the NCTC is composed of analysts with backgrounds in many government agencies and has access to various agency databases. It prepares studies ranging from strategic assessment of the future terrorist threats to daily briefings and situation reports. It is also responsible, directly to the President, for planning (but not directing) counter-terrorism efforts. This book provides an overview of the history, background, and issues for Congress with regard to the National Counter-terrorism Center.

In July 2004, the National Commission On Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States recommended the establishment of a National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) to serve as a center for "... joint operational planning and joint intelligence, staffed by personnel from the various agencies...." On August 27, 2004, President George W. Bush signed Executive Order (EO) 13354, National Counterterrorism Center, which established the National Counterterrorism Center and stipulated roles for the NCTC and its leadership and reporting relationships between NCTC leadership and NCTC member agencies, as well as with the White House. In December 2004, Congress passed the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, P.L. 108-458. Like the preceding executive order, among many other reform initiatives, the act prescribes roles and responsibilities for the NCTC and its leadership. The purpose of this report is to outline the commonalities and potential differences between EO 13354 and P.L. 108-458, as these conceptual differences could be meaningful in the implementation process of P.L. 108-458 and/or should the issue of intelligence reform be re-visited by the 109 th Congress. The report examines some aspects of the law related to the NCTC, including the relationship between the NCTC's Director and the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), which may have implications related to policy and implementation of an effective and efficient nationally coordinated counterterrorism function. Moreover, the report examines several issues that may be of interest to Congress as the NCTC matures and evolves, including potential civil liberties implications of collocating operational elements of the traditional foreign intelligence and domestic intelligence entities of the U.S. Intelligence Community. While the appointment and confirmation of a DNI may resolve some of the uncertainty regarding the NCTC, the NCTC is only one of a myriad of complex issues that will be competing for the time and attention of the recently nominated DNI. An issue for Congress is whether to let the existing intelligence reform law speak for itself (and let certain ambiguities be resolved during implementation), or to intervene to address apparent ambiguities through amendments to the law now. Alternatively, the executive branch may choose to intervene to clarify apparent ambiguities within P.L. 108-458, or between EO 13354 and P.L. 108-458. In any event, congressional oversight of the status quo and implementation of the present law could prove useful.