Intelligence
is information that has been processed into a product that
can be exploited for its value in analysing a particular situation.
In the Information Age that we live
in we are deluged by all kinds of information.
Indeed, Information required to produce intelligence
can come from anywhere, it need not be a specialist or covert
source, but could be a television news report, an internet
site or a newspaper article.
INFORMATION
OR INTELLIGENCE?
But, information
in its raw state does not always tell us what we need to know.
Often, the crucial piece of Intelligence is buried
under a mass of other details. In
today's conflicts, where 'brain force' is increasingly replacing
'brute force', Intelligence is a powerful weapon. What's
more, as technology develops, intelligence is a highly perishable
commodity that loses its usefulness if it is not delivered
in a timely fashion.
It takes
a talented, knowledgeable and skilled individual to sort the
valuable nuggets of intelligence from a mass of sound bites and inaccuracies. And
it takes the utmost confidence in your ability to do this
to deliver that intelligence to ministers, commanders and
to your colleagues throughout the Army.
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