tary reports about threats. Indeed, there appeared to be possible threats almost
everywhere the United States had interests--including at home.
is collected and conveyed. Information is collected through several methods,
including signals intelligence and interviews of human sources, and gathered
into intelligence reports. Depending on the source and nature of the report-
ing, these reports may be highly classified--and therefore tightly held--or less
sensitive and widely disseminated to state and local law enforcement agencies.
Threat reporting must be disseminated, either through individual reports or
through threat advisories. Such advisories, intended to alert their recipients,
may address a specific threat or be a general warning.
tor of Central Intelligence George Tenet was briefed regularly regarding threats
and other operational information relating to Usama Bin Ladin.
known as the President's Daily Brief (PDB). Each PDB consists of a series of
six to eight relatively short articles or briefs covering a broad array of topics;
CIA staff decides which subjects are the most important on any given day.
There were more than 40 intelligence articles in the PDBs from January 20
to September 10, 2001, that related to Bin Ladin. The PDB is considered
highly sensitive and is distributed to only a handful of high-level officials.
as the PDB. It usually contains less information so as to protect sources and