Substance Abuse: An overview

Addiction or substance abuse is nothing new as one of the human tendencies. However, it is since the middle of the nineteenth century that drug addiction and substance abuse turned out to be a dangerous peril that has, in multiple ways, not only undermined the human civilization but also dehumanized mankind at times. The rate at which the number of the substance abusers is increasing is even more alarming. In the United States and in Europe the misuse of Hallucinogens increased remarkably during the span from 1988 to 2003. The rate of the High School students reporting lifetime Hallucinogens use increased to 36% from 7.7%. Most amazingly, lifetime risk at 2003 was estimated at 14.5% (Gelder, Harrison and Cowen, 2006). The problem with substance abuse is that it not only affects the human body but also the human mind, as a result of which, the addicted person starts having a lot of problems not only in his or her personal life but also at work places. Therefore, the problems caused by substance abuse never remains confined within the personal sphere, rather, it affects a wider range of space including the industry as well as the society that the person is involved with. Let us now have an overview of substance abuse and different aspects related to it.

What is substance abuse?

Substance abuse refers to a sense of dependence on a drug or overindulgence in it, leading to such impacts on man that are detrimental to the physical as well as mental health of the consumer and also to the welfare of the others associated with the person (Mosby, 1998). ‘Substance abuse’, as a term, has often been used to refer to drug addiction or drug abuse. But the fact remains that substance abuse is quite distinct from drug addiction. Substance abuse is basically consumption or use of substances in a way that hardly conforms with the socio-cultural conventions.

Why is substance abuse a problem?

According to the concept of substance abuse, as stated in Mosby's Medical, Nursing, & Allied Health Dictionary, the person who falls victim to substance abuse is affected physically as well as mentally. Researches show that substance abusers have been suffering from depression, lack of the enthusiasm for activity, declination of grades and forgetfulness. It has also been found that the person habituated with substance abuse, have grown suicidal tendencies.

Apart from these problems that can be categorized as mental illness, there are many other problems that substance abuse results in. One can become more and more selfish and the least caring about anything or anyone else. The tendency to take risks including sexual risks gets high. Resorting to theft or other criminal activities is also nothing unusual. The family of the person will also remarkably suffer for his or her taking to substance abuse.

It must be, by now, quite evident that all of these problems negatively influence not only the person but also others associated with him. What is even more important is that the industry that the person is involved with, suffers in ways more than one. A fall in the productivity of the employee is not the only problem that the industry suffers for any of its employees getting used to substance abuse. It has to be kept in mind that an employee who has taken to substance abuse can affect the very work atmosphere in the work place. As a result a large share of the entire productivity of the industry may badly suffer. there have been innumerable case studies as well as clinical reports that have been unanimous in demonstrating that a single employee with the habit of substance abuse or drug addiction or alcohol dependence can have a “significant impact not only on his or her own productivity and medical or legal costs but also on those of others – both specific coworkers and business operations” (Joel B. Bennett, G. Shawn Reynolds, and Wayne E. K. Lehman, Page 31)Though the problems at the personal or familial level are, in no way, less important, the huge loss that the industries suffer for its employees taking to substance abuse becomes obviously more prevalent. There is, therefore, no scope for the minimum doubt that substance abuse is one of the most threatening concern for the entire society of the present time.

Causes of substance abuse

A person can grow the habit of substance abuse in such various ways that it is really impossible to identify and list all the factors. However, there are certain risk factors that may lead person to take to substance abuse.

There are various personal as well as familial events that can increase one’s likeliness to abuse the substances. A chaotic home environment is one of the major reasons in this regard. Lack of proper parenting and nurturing is also one of the most possible reasons that play important roles in inspiring one to resort to substance abuse. If a person grows up in an environment characterized by lack of attachment with the parents, or by utter negligence, it is most probable that he or she would start taking drugs or abusing substances from adolescence.

There are also some other factors that contribute to the increase of the likeliness of a person’s abusing drugs. If a person is either shy by behavior or aggressive by nature in the classroom or in the association that he or she keeps, there is a higher risk of tending to start substance abuse. Other reason take into account poor performance in the school, poor coping skills with the society and perception of the approval of the behavior related to use of drugs. However, the most important and most obvious factor that have been found to be responsible in most of the cases, is nothing but association with a deviant peer group.

Why do people abuse substance in the work place?

Too much of stress is one of the reasons for which people resort to substance abuse. Considering the hectic hurry and sick business of the modern times it can never be denied that people belonging to any social or economic status have to undergo a lot of stressful time, especially in the spheres related to work. Again, it is a human instinct to get rid of the stress in some way or the other. Considering the general trend, substance abuse appears to be the easiest way to get unstressed, as most of the people think. Tremendous workload, non-cooperation from the coworkers, lack of autonomy, and even the perception of the absence of distributive justice can make an employee feel too stressed and burnout. In such cases the employees may feel like quitting the job. Again, it may not always possible for one to quit job for several reasons including his or her financial or familial conditions.

What effect does it have on families?

It is impossible that a person abuses substances and his or her family is not affected by it. There are a number of ill effects that the family of the person who abuses substances has to suffer.

Financial problem is the most obvious effect of the one of its member’s substance abuse. The substance abusers always have the tendency to spend the maximum amount of money for buying substances. If the substance abuser happens to be the earning member of the family, he starts thinking that he has every right to spend as much money on buying substances as he wishes. If there is any other family member who turns to be his or her accomplice, it just adds to the financial crisis of the family to a large extent.

The very family environment gets affected if any of its members is a substance abuser. Especially, the effect on the children in the family seems to be the worst. It is very natural that the presence of the substance abusers in a family increases the likeliness of the children to take up substance abuse very soon. Moreover, it has been found through a number of researches that the substance abusers have tremendously poor parenting skills. It also increases aggression, sensation–seeking, delinquency, impulsivity, hyperactivity and negative activity among the children, especially among the adolescents (G. D. Shoal and P. R. Giancola, 2003, Page: 221 - 233).

The effect substance abuse has on people at work place

It is not that the workplace of the substance abuser remains unaffected by the ill habit of the employee. The direct way in which the workplace gets affected by the substance abuser is the lack of productivity, leading to the financial loss of the industry. Moreover, the behavior or the selfish nature, as it happens in most of the cases, creates lots of inconvenient situations in the workplace. What is even more important the substance abusers are most likely to get involved in and in creating negative relationships in the workplace, which is even worse.

Interventions

So far as intervention to the problem of substance abuse within the workplace is concerned, the best suggestion seems to come from Mrazek and Habberty as mentioned in ‘Understanding Employee Alcohol and Other Drug Use: Toward a Multilevel Approach’ by Joel B. Bennett, G. Shawn Reynolds, and Wayne E. K. Lehman (Page: 41), who indicated there should be different levels of interventions for substance abuse. Universal preventive interventions should be targeted to the whole population of a group. Selective preventive interventions should be used for the individuals or the small group who have the higher chance of developing the disorder.

Support at the workplace is also one of the most effective ways of interventions to prevent substance abuse. If the employees work as a team and practices thought provoking exercises (New Learning Tool, Training and Development, December 1996, Page: 62), it will add to the fun that employees have at the workplaces. In that case there would be little possibility of the employees getting stressed or exhausted.

There are a number of substances that do not have a very favorable legal status. In these cases it is not too tough to normalize situations when there is an instance of an employee is detected to have a habit of substance abuse. Attention of the management and the human resource departments can also be an effective intervention to prevent employees from abusing substances. It has been found that “compared to the other workplace factors, substance abuse is not an ongoing or salient concern that has gained sufficient among managers and human resources” (Joel B. Bennett, G. Shawn Reynolds, and Wayne E. K. Lehman, Page: 46).

Counseling also happens to be one of the main effective interventions that can prevent substance abuse. Proper counseling can make the abuser realize the ill effect that his abusing substances is causing. The typical way of the counselors will definitely have some healing impact on the substance abuser. If intervention for preventing substance abuse only at workplace is the concern, employee assistance program and applicant drug testing can be two very methodical means (Chester S. Spell and Terry C. Blum, 2005, Page: 1131). In these cases the risk of recruiting such people would be reduced. Even if some one us there wit the habit of substance abuse, he or she can be helped by the due employee assistance program.

There are some barriers that people face in the process of intervention for preventing substance abuse. It is for this reason that substance abuse at workplaces has not been annihilated. One of the barriers is the fact that the methods or the interventions are too stereotype to have some effect on the substance abusers. New and unique methods of intervention for preventing substance abuses have become badly necessary.

Response of the supervisor

The supervisor at the workplace has to play a responsible role in adopting interventions to prevent substance abuse at workplaces. They have to motivate the employees so that they do not feel stressed and do not fail to perform their job duties. The work should be distributed in such a way that the employees should have some time away from work for themselves. Again, the work should be distributed keeping in mind that this would make the employees fell that they are a part of the group. They will, in that case, find interest in participating in the group activities.

Strategies for children and their families

The families of the substance abusers should be made aware of the ill effects of substance abuses, as an intervention to prevent substance abuses. Apart from applying different methods of preventing substance abuse such as proper treatment or counseling, there should also be community support programs so that the families are strengthened more in fighting substance abuse. A story of the success of one family may inspire another. There should also be some interventions so that the families are able to overcome the barriers tat the families face in preventing substance abuse by themselves.

Afterwords

Though there are a number of methods for preventing substance abuse, including treatment, counseling, spreading general awareness, it seems that the existing intervention methods for preventing such abuses are not quite enough. In fact, much care has to be taken during the development of the personality of a person from the very childhood, the chances of getting introduced to or habituated with substance abuse can be avoided. If the socialization of the child is processed in such a proper way, there remains the least possibility of the child or the person taking to substance abuse for any reason.

References:

1. Gelder, M. Harrison, P. and Cowen, P. (2006), Shorter Oxford Textbook of Psychiatry Oxford University Press.

2. Chester S. Spell and Terry C. Blum, 2005, Page: 1131, Adoption of Workplace Substance Abuse Prevention Programs: Strategic Choice and Institutional Perspectives

3. Joel B. Bennett, G. Shawn Reynolds, and Wayne E. K. Lehman, 2002 (Page: 31, 41. 46) Understanding Employee Alcohol and Other Drug Use: Toward a Multilevel Approach

4. New Learning Tool, Training and Development, December 1996, Page: 62

5. G. D. Shoal and P. R. Giancola, 2003, Page: 221 – 233

6. Mosby's Medical, Nursing, & Allied Health Dictionary. Edition 5, 1998

Multiculturalism in ‘Jasmine’ by Bharati Mukherejee

Bharati Mukherjee’s ‘Jasmine’, published by Grove Pr, Viking Books and Virago Press Ltd in 1989, is a novel that tells the story of a young Indian woman who tries to adapt to the American way of life in order that she can survive. Jasmine, the title character, and also the protagonist of the novel, changes her identities several times so that she can she can live up to the culture she thrusts herself into.

‘Jasmine’ happens to be one of those novels by Bharati Mukherjee that have been much acclaimed by the critics. It has often been described as the projection and depiction of the hypersensitive mind of a woman. Jasmine, the central character, rather, the protagonist of the novel travels through events and situations in the novel in such a way that each of her steps and activities gains remarkable dimension, making the literary work stand out with pride.

The journey of Jasmine, as presented in the novel, does touch the readers making them feel her and feel for her. Yet, the other themes that the journey of the central character involves and reflects cannot be ignored. The journey of Jasmine appears to have a direct association to with the subject of immigration, and in the process, offers an insight into the issue of multiculturism. Before we attempt a critical analysis of immigration, multiculturalism and some other issues in ‘Jasmine’, let us have an overview of the story of the novel itself.

The backdrop of ‘Jasmine’ is based on the idea of the marriage of the East and the West, with a story that portrays a Hindu Indian woman whose husband is murdered. Being widowed at merely the age of seventeen, Jasmine leaves India for the United States. Through a series of events including her facing a number of problems and even getting raped, she turns to be a health professional.

The way the author has developed the character of the protagonist and has made her go through the journey from India to the United States and shift from one culture to the other in the course of living, immigration, change of culture and multiculturalism can automatically be traced to be among the most important as well as most obvious themes of ‘Jasmine’.

The very typical aspect of the themes of immigration and multiculturalism in Bharati Mukherjee’s ‘Jasmine’ is that both appear to be the cause and well as the effect of the other. It is not that the immigration of Jasmine from a village in Punjab in India to Florida in the United States naturally leads to the projection of multiculturalism. If the line of events is analyzed with an introspective and critical view, it will appear that multiculturalism also has a great role to play in Jasmine’s journey from India to the United States.

Jasmine, rather, Jyoti, born in Hasnapur in India, is the most beautiful and clever child in her family. The way she has been controlled dominated by the male members of her family, and the way it has been shown as taken for granted clearly reveals the side of male dominance over the female in Indian culture. Like the girls and women in most of the Indian families, Jyoti’s life is also controlled by her father or brothers.

Culture is typically characterized by its tendency to change in various forms, is also revealed through the events in the novel. Marriage at an early age is still a part of culture in some parts of India. Yet, Jyoti has the mind to think in a different way as young generations in most cultures do. Though Jyoti does not deny to get married, she does have the desire to marry an educated man who does not believe in the dowry system. Thus she is married to Prakash, a man who is based in the United States and has the modern way of thinking.

It is after marriage that Jyoti’s immigration becomes quite obvious. At the same time, Jyoti’s shift from one culture to the other and also the shift from one identity to the other occur. Prakash encourages her to study English after they shift to the US. He also gives Jyoti a new name Jasmine. This change of her name is much symbolic of the change of her identity as well as of her shift from the Eastern culture to the Western one. However, though Jyoti was quite happy in her marital life, it is too short-lived as Jasmine is widowed after Prakash is murdered.

The second instance of immigration in Jasmine’s life seems to have much to do with culture and also with multiculturalism. The time that Jasmine had spent in the US with Prakash had made her adapt to the Western Culture that is not, at least, as superstitious as that of India. When Jasmine returns from the US to her family in India, she has to choose either performing Sati according to the rigid tradition of her family, or to lead the life of Jasmine in America. Now she becomes an illegal immigrant to Florida, symbolizing her journey of transformations, displacements and shifts of identities.

In the course of migration and shifts of identities, and adapting to different cultures, the events also shows how America is perceived as a land of opportunities. Jasmine leaves her oppressive family in India and chooses to live in America, even if as an illegal immigrant. She did so for she had the hope that her search for a more fruitful life would be materialized in the United States. Prakash also had the same idea about America as a land of opportunities since both of them traveled to the United States after their marriage with the ambition of starting off a ‘new life’.

Jasmine’s journey towards the Western culture begins as her identity as a typical Hindu widow as she meets people like Taylor or Bud. Her identities as ‘Jase’, as Taylor called her, and as ‘Jane’, as Bud called her, are not only the reflections of her shifting identities but also her shedding one culture and adapting the other.

Bharati Mukherjee has depicted her transition as a positive and optimistic journey. It clearly reveals that the author herself is quite sympathetic to her protagonist in the novel and wants her not to be a victim of the rigidity of the Indian culture. Jasmine tries to and does create a new world of hers that consists of new ideas and values. To be specific, she is always upbeat to establish a new cultural identity through constant incorporation of new skills, desires, and habits. It is true that there have been changes in her attitude. At the same time, the change in her relationships with the men is also remarkable. Again, though Jasmine has tried a lot to change her cultural identity from one to the other, she has definitely faced problems. For instance, when Jasmine offers Du to help him in his homework she ultimately finds it impossible for her since Du was studying Teddy Roosevelt’s presidency, a subject that Jasmine finds quite foreign.

There is one more thing that needs to be mentioned here, especially when it comes to the subjects of immigration, changing cultures and multiculturalism. The way the character of Jasmine has been portrayed, especially her role as an immigrant to the United States, Jasmine seems to be a representative of the immigrants to the United States from the East. However, the attitude and the outlook towards life that Jasmine has, makes her stand out as a unique character, deserving to be the protagonist of a novel.

Sources:

1. Jasmine, by Bharati Mukherjee

http://books.google.co.in/books?id=m_ek8IAp17gC&dq=Jasmine%2BBharati+Mukherjee&printsec=frontcover&source=bn&hl=en&ei=UjabSfCXCJTq6QPu3aX0CA&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=4&ct=result#PPA7,M1

David Hume’s Views on Chastity

David Hume, an eminent figure in the history of the Western Philosophy, was also a historian in Scotland. Among the numerous subjects of history, philosophy and economics that he has dealt with in his works, human nature has been found to be one of the most recurring subjects, chastity of the women being the commonest one. It is not that he has expressed his views no chastity only in ‘An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding’ that came to be published in the year of 1748. There are some other essays written by David, in which his opinions and views in chastity are available. Therefore, while discussing the views of David Hume on chastity of women, it is necessary to regard the other works also in addition to focusing on the particular work titled ‘An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding’.

While discussing the views of Hume on chastity, there would be some aspects that must be addressed. For instance, it has to be examined if he approves of chastity as virtue or not. It is also to be studied if the account that Hume has provided in his literary work in the name of ‘An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding’ is complete or not. If Hume's account is complete or not would be best comprehensible if we explore and judge the arguments that he has made to substantiate his views. It may also happen that the views that he has expressed are just and also acceptable, but the justification that he has given in his work may not be sufficient to offer solid base to his views. In that case other philosophical justifications can be searched for, so that the 'quality' or the 'virtue' in the name of 'chastity' can be approved.

In his ‘An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding’, David Hume discusses the woman virtue of chastity mainly in the fourth and the sixth section. It is in the fourth section that Hume lets the subject of chastity be introduced in relevance to the human requirement of the combination of parents for the subsistence of their young. According to Hume, “that combination requires the virtue of chastity or fidelity to the marriage bed” (Hume, 2004). He even goes to the extent of making the comment that it is quite unlikely for such a virtue to be thought of if there is no such utility. He then refers to De Rep, Phaedrus, Plutarch and the Stoics in order to substantiate his views on the virtue of chastity. If what he meant by such comment is to be elaborated, it is necessary to mention that he occasions the subject of the virtue of chastity directly with its necessity or utility in the society. After he initiates the query about why it is necessary to regard chastity as a virtue or a moral behavior to be maintained and to be approved, he makes it clear that the comparatively long infancy of the human being necessitates the combination of the parents and a typical kind of security that can be provided to the human infants by a stable home environment. If such advantages are not available to the human beings in their infancy, they would hardly have the opportunity to grow or develop in a healthy or normal manner so that he can be the member of the civilized and advanced society. The regulations or the social conventions that concerns marriage and other relationships are, as Hume thinks, much useful or of great utility in the sense that the desired conditions for the perfect society are not quite possible without the virtues such as chastity.

There is no denial to the fact that Hume has made some very logical interpretations of the virtue of chastity, and such views of him have earned different types of reactions from the critics. There are early reactions to Hume’s views of human nature and virtues like chastity just as there have been feminist interpretations of Hume’s views on chastity in the postcolonial era. Before we embark upon exploring the scholarly criticism of Hume, let us have an overview of some of the ideas on chastity, which Hume has expressed in his ‘An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding’. The most striking comment that Hume makes on the subject of woman chastity in the perspective of the way of its being regarded or treated in the society is, “An infidelity of this nature is much more pernicious in women than in men. Hence the laws of chastity are much stricter over the one sex than over the other” (Hume, 1748). Hume is so mush confident about the fact that the virtue of chastity exists only because of its dire necessity for a healthy society or social behavior of a generation of a society that he says that the virtue of chastity would never have come into being without its utility that it bears with it.

The demarcation that Hume has done between the chastity of the women and that of the men has well been explained by Eduardo A. Velasquez in his literary work bearing the title, “Nature, Woman, and the Art of Politics”. In this book, the author bases on the views of Hume and says that the excess as well as the deficiencies of self-love of both men and women are expressed in the most basic relationships, and there are huge numbers of consequences for the society at a larger scale. The manly honor is often associated with the sexual prowess of the male. But the female complements take into account the virtues like ‘chastity’ and ‘modesty’. “The assertive “masculine” and the deferential “feminine” virtues are based on the assumptions about the relative physical and intellectual endowments of each sex” (Velasquez, E. A., 2000, p.211).

Let us now discuss the feminist interpretations of David Hume’s views on the virtue of chastity. In the book, ‘Feminist Interpretations of David Hume’, Anne Jaap Jacobson states that Hume had persuaded that the virtues of women have positive, and not a negative, role to play in the society. “Chastity and modesty secure social stability by assuring men that their wives’ children are also their own offspring and thereby inducing men to support these children and remain within the marriage bond” (Jacobson, A. J., 2000, p.299).

It is now quite important to examine the way in which Hume has presented his arguments to substantiate his views. There is little doubt in the fact that Hume has shown enough reason and rationality to testify the necessity of the virtue of chastity. Yet, it is not that there have not been left some loopholes. For instance, the arguments that he has placed have not been duly elaborated, though the purpose of making the argument has been served. Elaborating the argument might have med itself even stronger. Again, if the positive aspects of his way of making the arguments are to be discussed, the way in which stresses some facts are to be appreciated. Here is an instance. The purpose of Hume is to make it clear that chastity is a virtue that is essentially required to maintain a healthy society. He makes it in the way that had chastity been of no utility of social necessity, it never would have existed at all. As a result, the utility of the virtue of chastity is stressed on quite strategically and effectively.

There is one more point that needs to be mentioned in this regard. It is very much obvious after analyzing David Hume’s views on the virtue of chastity that his has made a typical approach to the subject of chastity. There are very few thinkers or philosophers who have treated chastity from such a view point of utility and materialism. Hume’s views or the approach to the subject can also be described as quite realistic. Yet, the views seem to be more utilitarian and materialistic rather than practical. Hume ignores, though he does not miss, the psychological aspects that are related to the virtue of chastity. He seems to be totally concentrating on chastity with its relation to and impact on the future society.

Whether such too much utilitarian or materialistic views on virtue are to be accepted or not, or how they are to be treated if they are accepted, is a different issue altogether. But the reason for Hume’s having such purely utilitarian views on chastity may be due to his being influenced by the tempo of the society in his time. The eighteenth century society that he was living in necessitated realistic attitude from its members. Being a thinker and a philosopher, he could foresee the realistic, practical and utilitarian attitude coming forth in the future England. The basic materialism and utilitarianism of the Victorian era or the nineteenth century testify to the fact that Hume had a proper perception of what is going to come. Realizing the necessity, he might have been very much practical in his views even on a subject like the virtue of chastity.

References:

1. Hume, 2004, ‘An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding’ http://books.google.co.in/books?id=XbCXULjpPJsC

2. Velasquez, E. A., 2000, ‘Nature, Woman, and the Art of Politics’, http://books.google.co.in/books?id=W4gV-exeMEwC&pg=PA209&lpg=PA209&dq=David+Hume%27s+views+on+chastity&source=bl&ots=uR72d4ZVF8&sig=nDWMQTgIec6MReCLLoaDlTL8hYA&hl=en&ei=a5DZSdiTK8iSkAWKxbC-CQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4#PPA211,M1

3. Jacobson, A. J., 2000, ‘Feminist Interpretations of David Hume’, http://books.google.co.in/books?id=vwCX5kJ_CVkC&pg=PA289&lpg=PA289&dq=David+Hume%27s+views+on+chastity&source=bl&ots=aJIEYrlPys&sig=UN4nJOHI_tYcFpI-D6RLi1qxp1Y&hl=en&ei=a5DZSdiTK8iSkAWKxbC-CQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7#PPA299,M1

‘The Rhodora’ by Ralph Waldo Emerson: A Critical Overview

‘The Rhodora’ by Ralph Waldo Emerson is one of the poems from ‘Poems’, a collection of his poetic works, published in the year of 1847. In ‘The Rhodora’ the poet seems to be enraptured by the rhodora, a common flowering shrub in New England. It is to be noted that though the poet is charmed by the beauty of the flower, he does not ignore the other elements of nature, especially the pleasant weather of the month of May. In fact this is the first thing that he mentions in the poem (Emerson, 1847, line: 1). The beauty of the flower along with the pleasant wind of May inspires the poet to take a walk. The wish of the poet for some activity that is inspired by what he saw testifies to the intensity as well as the trueness of the impression that the beauty of the rhodora flower had on the poet. Though the attention of the poet seems to be focused on the flower, he pays heed to the red birds and the black water. There seems to be an abrupt change of tone from the ninth line of the poem when the poet is found to address the rhodora flower. He even seems to be very passionate while conversing with the flower. The phrases or the words that he uses to address or to describe the rhodora, such as ‘dear’ or ‘rival of the rose’ make clear hoe intense is the feeling of the poet after he had come across the rhodora (Emerson, 1847, line:11 - 13).

It is very interesting to find the way in which the poet portrays the flower. In fact, the portrayal of the flower by the poet reveals how the poet sees himself in relation to the rhodora. For Emerson the rhodora is as it is with its existence in the nature. However, it is to be noted that the rhodora itself is “introduced when (in line four) it is imbued with the poet’s own emotions” (Martin, 1991, p. 15). The persona of the poem observes the beauty of the rhodora in its contrast to the dark and muddy surroundings. In this respect, this poem stands in sharp contrast to ‘The Daffodils’ (1804) by William Wordsworth, one of the greatest English romantic poets. It is necessary to mention in this regard that The Daffodils by William Wordsworth is often referred to while discussing ‘The Rhodora’ by Emerson. There is another contrast that can be cited here. The poet in ‘The Rhodora’ is passionate but does not seem to be carried away by the beauty of the flower, while William Wordsworth does. However, the realistic way of viewing of the rhodora by the poet does not suppress the emotion of the poet. Neither does it put up any kind of hindrance before the poet to use his imaginative faculty. “He imagines a bird coming and challenging the rhodora flower for outshining its red plumage” (Bussey, n.d.). He is also passionate enough to describe the rhodora as the rival of the rose.

There are mainly three themes in ‘The Rhodora’. Beauty is the primary theme in this poem. It is not only the beauty of the fresh rhodora flower that the poet observes. He also goes to the extent of thinking how this flower can change its setting that takes into account the ‘black water’, ‘damp nook’ and ‘sluggish Brook’. So far the concepts of beauty is concerned with this poem, though the poet seems to try to be a bit unconventional, he does not appear to be totally revolutionary, though his effort to come out of the traditional concepts of beauty is evident. When he describes the rhodora as the rival to the rose, his quest for a new image for beauty becomes obvious. At the same time it has also t be noted that he has not been able to denounce the traditional and conventional idea of using rose as an image for something extraordinarily beautiful. Divinity is also another theme of the poem. That the poet believes in a divine power that guides the events of the nature is quite obvious in the final lines where the poet says, “But, in my simple ignorance, suppose/ The self-same Power that brought me there brought you.” (Emerson, 1847, line:15-16). However, the way Emerson has indicated the theme of divinity in the poem is quite appreciable. He never refers to the words like ‘God’ or ‘divinity’. He makes it comprehensible by making P of ‘Power’ capital (Emerson, 1847, line 16). ‘The Rhodora’ also takes poetic inspiration as one of its themes. The poem is a result of the inspiration that the poet got by seeing ‘The Rhodora’ and by the experience that he had during his walk after seeing the flower.

So far as the style and diction of the poem is concerned, the rhyme scheme of the poem needs special mention. First, it has to be noted that though there is no stanza break in the 16 line poem, the flow of the poem indicates the division after the eighth line. The rhyme schemes of both the parts are the same aabbcdcd. The dominance of the Iambic Pentameter with stray variations over the poem seems to be in keeping with the romantic tempo of the poem. Let us now examine the diction of Emerson in this poem. The dominance of monosyllabic and disyllabic words is so obvious that it can be easily marked. Words like ‘sluggish’, ‘damp’, ‘fallen’ and ‘dark’truly stand in contrast to the ‘beauty’ of the ‘fresh’ rhodora. The phrase ‘rival of the rose’ is not only thematically revolutionary but also has a poetic touch in it, making it perfectly match with the joyous mood of the poem. Use of alliterations like ‘purple petals’ (line: 5) and ‘same-self’ (line: 16) adds to the musicality of the poem. The poet has also used words like ‘thee’ and ‘thou’ instead of ‘you’ and ‘your’. It has also to be noticed that the poet has maintained an easy flowing casual narrative style. When he addresses the rhodora, the slight light-heartedness seems to be absolutely absent. Rather his consciousness of his own appreciation of the beauty of the rhodora makes him appear more serious and even more passionate. The poem also carries an argumentative attitude though Kris Fresonke demands that ‘The Rhodora’ “presents an early analysis of the design argument by Emerson characterized by only mild skepticism”, the way in which the poet established the excuse of the existence of beauty in the tenth and eleventh line is really appreciable (Fresonke, 2003, p.137). Here it becomes similar with the Metaphysical poems of the 17th century.

The structure of the poem is also to be appreciated. In fact, it seems to have a circular pattern. The subtitle of the poem is “On Being Asked, Whence Is the Flower?”. The subtitle makes it appear that it is one of those poems that are “occasioned by direct or implicit questions” (Porte and Morris, 1999, p.224). However, if the readers keep the query in mind while reading through the poem, they can expect a climactic situation followed by the answer being given. The narrative style in the first part of the poem and the passion in the second part offers a dramatic effect. ‘The Rhodora’ also reveals some very essential features of romanticism such as use of imagination, an expression of strong, passionate and powerful feeling, use of imageries and focusing on the natural beauty. The narrative style at the beginning makes it appear that the poet unfolds in this poem is the reminiscence of what the poet experienced sometime in the past. This also adds to the romantic features of the poem. The intensity of the passion with which the poet addresses the rhodora makes the poem even more romantic. The second pat that begins from the ninth line starts with a direct exclamatory address, ‘Rhodora!’. He again addresses the flower saying ‘o rival of the rose’’ in the twelfth line. The simplicity of theme as well as of diction and imagery, the easy flow and argumentative attitude of the poem makes it one of the most lovable poems.




References

1. Bussey, J. (nd.), “‘The Rhodora’, Criticism”, Available at: http://www.answers.com/topic/the-rhodora-poem-7

2. Emerson, R.E., (1847), ‘The Rhodora’ Available at http://www.readbookonline.net/readOnLine/1183/

3. Fresonke, K. (2003), West of Emerson, University of California Press, Available at http://books.google.co.in/books?id=1ar_OqzDUJAC&pg=PA161&dq=3.+Fresonke,+K.+(2003),+West+of+Emerson,+University+of+California+Press&lr=&ei=qE3WSeDpMZGIkASquZn-Ag#PPA136,M1

4. Martin, R.E. (1991), American literature and the destruction of knowledge, Duke University Press, Available at http://books.google.co.in/books?id=jxqI_b61X64C&pg=PA15&lpg=PA15&dq=rhodora+itself+is+introduced+when+(in+line+four)+it+is+imbued+with+the+poet%E2%80%99s+own+emotions&source=bl&ots=6lGyDPhZg9&sig=L1sNl4dfo0tENFhDVwlwbkE7YPo&hl=en&ei=i0zWSba1IcOIkAWymLHLBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1#PPA15,M1

5. Porte, J. and S. Morris, (1999), The Cambridge companion to Ralph Waldo Emerson, Cambridge University Press, Available at http://books.google.co.in/books?id=04NPax82MZQC&pg=PA224&dq=The+Rhodora%E2%80%99+by+Ralph+Waldo+Emerson+criticism&ei=1EjWSZ2SGpWolASj2djvAg&client=firefox-a

Outsourcing Is Morally Unethical

Introduction: The Case

Any person, irrespective of whether he or she is concerned with the information technology sector or not, is least likely to be unaware of what outsourcing is and what it takes into account. Those who are a bit involved with these affairs must know the facilities as well as the worries associated with outsourcing. When outsourcing came to be introduced, the worries that it involves did not seem to be so much prominent or important to anyone. There is nothing unnatural about it since it happens in almost all cases of anything novel being introduced. There are, of course, some foreseeing persons who foresee the threats and predict them. Again, as it happens in all times, people are so much steeped in the immediate profit that they simply deny to accept the truth though it is always there glaring in front of them.

It is only in the recent times the people have come to realize what impact people of the outsourcing country have to experience due to such business. The raising questions about the ethical perspectives of outsourcing testify to this fact. These days, people are even stronger in their feeling that outsourcing is morally unethical. Before we go into the critical analysis of the moral and ethical perspectives of outsourcing let us have an overview of what exactly outsourcing is.
Outsourcing happens to be the practice of hiring an organization of a different country to serve the purpose of performing some business function or the other (Hartman, n.d). The advent of this practice resulted in the birth of various offshore outsourcing companies. The United States of America and the United Kingdom are the nations that are exceptionally remarkable in business process outsourcing that they are treated as the pioneers in this field (Brown, n.d).

Let us now have a look at the services that are generally outsourced by the outsourcing countries. Customer support is one of the major services that are outsourced by nations like the United States of America, The United Kingdom and Australia. Computer programming, website designing, data entry, mobile application, software development and different kinds of information technology services are outsourced by these countries. Later on knowledge processes also started being outsourced from overseas nations. Contents for the websites are outsourced in huge quantity form abroad. In the recent times outsourcing has come to take into account many other services like game development, animation, medical transcription, and network solutions. Where do these nations outsource the services from? The list of nations from which services of a wide range of variety are outsourced includes countries like India, Ukraine, Brazil, Argentina, China, Pakistan, Russia, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bulgaria, Malaysia, Romania, Indonesia, Egypt, Philippines and Panama.

A very relevant question that may crop up in this regard is if it is at all necessary to outsource business services from some other country? Before business outsourcing came into existence or during the initial phase of outsourcing being introduced, it must have been felt as necessary. Otherwise it could not have been so much wide spread as it is now. The very next query that spontaneously springs after this is why was did the business owners felt it necessary to outsource services from the companies of a different countries. The reason that drove them into outsourcing business processes is the very basic thing that a businessman concentrates on. The word is ‘profit’. It would have been much expensive had they bought the business function services from their own country. On the other hand, if they resort to a company in a different country in order to get the same business services that they need, it becomes much cheaper. If one can get something at a cheaper rate, why isn’t it that he would go for outsourcing? It definitely brings him a better and higher profit and that is the purpose with which he has embarked in the business world.

Ethical Issues of Outsourcing

Now that the issues related to the moral as well as ethical dilemmas have come up, it may occur to many what ethical and moral problems are there that it is stated straightway that outsourcing is morally unethical. The entrepreneurs in nations like the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia are looking for a better profit. They can gain more if they resort to outsourcing the services form some other country. As independent human being they have the right to do so. And this is no crime that they are committing by outsourcing services form abroad and by looking for higher profit since they are doing no harm to anyone.

Yes, these arguments are logical but aren’t they somehow crossing the bars of ethics? Let us analyze some of the perspectives related to information technology outsourcing, business process outsourcing, knowledge process outsourcing, legal process outsourcing and some other service outsourcing, as well. It will be then quite clear why the moral as well as ethical dilemmas are paid so much heed in the recent times. It will also be comprehensible if the arguments against the outsourcing are justified or not.

Information Privacy and Security

Lack of privacy when dealing with social security and bank numbers is one of the factors that go can raise voice against outsourcing. Though both the parties in outsourcing, that is, the recipient of the service and the service provider sign a contract assuring the privacy of the information that they deal with, there have been instances in the recent past where it is very evident that information is not that much secured as it is thought or promised to be while being outsourced. One of such issues starred the entire world on 22nd October in 2003 when it was discovered that a Pakistani medical transcriber dealing with the medical information of the clients threatened a San Francisco medical center stating that she would post the medical records of the patients online if she was not paid the amount of money that was due to her (Mintz, 2004). What is even more important is that fact that was published in the news articles related to this issue. The news articles revealed that the medical center had no evidence to be sure that the medical records of the patients were destroyed or not.

Matters related to the outsourcing of tax information are even more serious. The clients have the least idea about the fact that their financial data, their bank account numbers, brokerage account numbers and even the Social Security numbers are no secret even in nations abroad. Though Rule301 of CPA dictates that a member in public practice must not disclose any kind of confidential information about the client if the member does not have the consent of the client, the incident of the Pakistani medical transcriber blackmailing the medical center, points to the reliability and faithfulness in outsourcing. The clients do have an ethical right to know if their personal as well as confidential information are passed to some other people while it is promised to them that the information will remain secured. It may be argued that all the employees are not as unethical as the one who has turned out to be extremely unethical and immoral. However, the clients must not like to take any risk, especially when it comes to the matter of their personal confidential information that matters a lot.

Unemployment in the United States

What demands special mention in this regard is the present problem of unemployment in the United States. With outsourcing increasing, the American youths are becoming more and more afraid of remaining unemployed. Unemployment in the United States is on the high not for the reason that the people aspiring for jobs are not efficient enough. There are a number of countries like India, Hong Kong, Manila, China and Panama, where the natives speak English. Business Companies or organizations in the United States are outsourcing services from these countries for the sake of more and more profit. Profit is obvious since they can get the job done paying an amount which is much less than the amount that they might have spent had they got the job done by workers in their own countries. Natives in the mentioned countries are also being facilitated a lot since the price offered for the services seems to them to be higher than those offered to them for jobs in their own countries.

There is, now, no scope for denial to the fact that it is outsourcing of services is one of the major factors that play a key role in the increase of unemployment in the United States. Isn’t it natural that if jobs fly and ship abroad, there will be few jobs in the United States? This fact becomes even more evident if the number of jobs that have left the United States is brought under consideration. Since the year 1986 nearly fifteen million jobs have left America only because services have been outsourced from other developing countries. All if these fifteen million jobs are high paying ones.

Misery of The Working Class And Middle Class

What is even more amazing that those who have a job are in fear of losing their jobs. It no more remains merely an apprehension since lots of instances of American workers losing their jobs can be cited. It is not that they are losing their jobs because of the fact that they are inefficient in the jobs they are doing. The reason is the same. The services that they have been providing so long are, at present, being outsourced from service providers in other countries. The upper class people of the United States can manage the thing to some extent. The argument, in no way, hints at the fact that they are not the victim of outsourcing. Again, it has also to be admitted that the upper class Americans do not depend much on the jobs that can be outsourced from some other countries. Rather, it may be discovered that the businessmen who prefer to outsource the services from abroad forms the majority of the upper class or the aristocratic class in the United States. Even if there are some upper-class Americans who have fallen victim to the practice of outsourcing, they can somehow manage their situations by the wealth they already have. On the contrary, the conditions of the middle class, especially of the working class who depends entirely on their jobs for their livelihood, are really miserable. The present economic condition and the consistent fall in the share market throughout the world, especially in the United States have added to the misery of these people even more.

Environmental Standards in Developing Nations

It is a very evident fact that most of the nations from which the tax information services or business process services, knowledge process services or even Legal process services are outsourced are developing countries. Even it may seem to be unethical to think that the services provided by the nations from which the services are outsourced are of an inferior standard only because they are developing countries. Again, it is also true that the US CPA does not have the scope to supervise the service processes directly only for the distance between the countries. Therefore, the standard of the professional working on the service, the techniques applied, the technical subject matter involved and the capability to apply the sound knowledge in performing the professional services cannot be evaluated or supervised directly. Since there is no evidence the only way left is to rely upon the outsourcer that assures that a competent standard is maintained.
The working condition in the developing countries has also to be regarded in this regard. With due respect to the efficiency of the countries from which the services are outsourced it can be stated that the working atmosphere in those countries can hardly be better than that in the United States. Isn’t it unethical to opt for outsourcing services from the other countries, only because of a monetary profit, ignoring the possibility that the services may be of an inferior quality? Isn’t it the duty of the businessmen or the proprietors to serve the country be getting their jobs done be service providers in their own country? It is not that they are suffering a big loss by getting the job done by workers who happen to be their fellow countrymen. The fact is that they have to compromise to a little extent with the amount of profit that they enjoy. Moreover, there is also no denial to the fact that the equipments used in the developing countries can hardly expected to be more sophisticated that those used in the United States. And the importance of the equipments and technology, especially in the fields like information technology, software development, website development and web-programming is needless to mention.

Difference of Culture

It would be quite unwise to deny the cultural difference between the two countries. The difference of culture may not have any impact on the services in the technological field. But it is certainly a great factor in the field of knowledge process outsourcing and legal process outsourcing. A professional born and brought up in a completely different culture and atmosphere can hardly have the true perception of what things are like in New York or California. The information on the internet can provide him with the factual information. He can get a description of the culture of the American people. But that knowledge is dry since the feel cannot be there. A person who has never been to a Halloween party can describe the costumes and how men and women dress themselves. But he would hardly be able to depict the charm of the party. A content writer in Pakistan or Bangladesh may feel hesitant while jotting down dating tips. Or in his bid to feel the way the Americans feel about dating, he may chance to make a mess by imagining things to such an extent, which it is not in reality.

Management Ethics Perspective

The operational management system in any business or any organization takes into account certain aspects that are essential for ensuring the high quality of the products or the services that the firm or the company or the organization deals with. It is the management team that defines the design, operation and also the improvement of the products or the services. What is even more important is the fact that this kind management of the functions of a business a continual process so that production process become more effective and efficient. Improvement of quality is the keyword. Tough and crucial decisions are to be made by the management teams. When a company or an organization keeps outsourcing the products or services, the only way left is to rely upon the management team of the company or the firm that is producing the product or the service. And, management is something regarding which none can rely upon the other since it has to be done with thorough awareness of how things are going on in the production house. Even an exceptionally excellent communication between the management team of the firm or the company that is in charge of producing the products or providing the services and the management of the outsourcing company may not be sufficient to live up to the standard that is expected to make a production process effective and efficient. On the other hand, if outsourcing had not been an option, the management team could have kept a constant vigil, which is the most important for improvement of products or services, on how things are going on. They could even have the scope to take some immediate decision if they felt necessary, which is not possible if the process of production of the products or the providing of the services is outsourced.

Alternative Solutions and Conclusion

Provided the factors discussed above it appears very definite that outsourcing that, in the initial stage, was used as a means for cost saving, has turned out to be a big threat for the economy of the nation, necessitating some alternatives to it. Considering the extent to which outsourcing has developed, especially in the modern times, it is really very difficult to find out alternative ways to replace outsourcing of services and products. Making outsourcing cease to exist is no big deal if bills against it can be made to pass. But that certainly is not the solution to the problem. Rather it would give birth to a number of other problems that would be quite hard to cope up with. Moreover, it has been a set up since a long time. A sudden transmogrification of the system may bring about a disaster in the economy system of the United States that is already in financial trouble, owing much to the instability in the share market, which has created a grave concern in all around the world. It has got to be a very slow process to shift form outsourcing to the alternative solutions. For this the alternative solutions to outsourcing have to be pointed out.

If the companies and firms or other organizations in the United States that are into the practice of outsourcing at present, are made to stop outsourcing and forced to buy services from or get the jobs done by people from their own country, the business owners may suddenly find themselves at a great loss. The situation may even lead to the extent of their failure to run the business any more. Moreover, those who have been resorting to outsourcing since such a long time and have become prosperous may not spontaneously agree to stop outsourcing very spontaneously since it is going against their means of their making profit.

The alternatives to outsourcing should be pointed out from the same perspective as it has come to be produced from. The main purpose of outsourcing products as well as services is nothing but the cost saving factor. If means are found to cut the costs down, they can be effective alternatives to replace outsourcing. Considering the financial statement of a business or a production house so that cost saving is facilitated can be an effective way to replace outsourcing. Some of such ways can be cutting down the employee benefits, bringing down the salary paid to the employees and reducing the vacation time that are given to the employees are some of the possible ways to cut down the costs, though these ways may seem to be the most unpopular ways, especially to the employees.

Another very effective alternative to outsourcing of services as well as products can be rural sourcing (Hart, 2006). If the middle class rural Americans are employed by the companies or the firms in the United States, the cost saving perspective will not be ignored. On the other hand, the working class and the middle class in the rural areas in the Unites States can, to some extent, get rid of the extremely wretched condition they are presently in. let us see what rural sourcing can offer to the business firms and the production houses in the United States. The most important among what it offers are high quality information technology services, low cost, and cost saving ranging from 30% to 50% (Hart, 2006). If the cost savings in rural sourcing of products and services is regarded a bit introspectively, they might not appear to be quite competitive in comparison to the cost savings in case of outsourcing. But if the ‘hidden costs’ that form an essential part of the whole process of outsourcing products and services, rural sourcing will definitely emerge as a very fruitful alternative to outsourcing, though the cost savings in rural sourcing, in no way, more lucrative than it is in outsourcing. However, this amount can be treated as a sacrifice for the sake of the economic development of the country, especially when it is going through a financially tight situation that it fails to manage.


References

Brown, C. (n.d). Future Belongs to Outsourcing. Retrieved 13 November, 2008 from http://ezinearticles.com/?Future-Belongs-to-Outsourcing&id=1387569

Hartman, J. (n.d). Ethics and Outsourcing. Retrieved 13 November, 2008 from http://www.ece.ufl.edu/academics/undergraduate/scholarships/essays/2006/hartman.pdf

Hart, S. (2006). Rural Sourcing - An Alternative to Outsourcing. Retrieved 13 November, 2008 from http://www.hartsteve.com/2006/07/03/rural-sourcing-alternative/

Mintz, S. (2004). The Ethical Dilemmas of Outsourcing. Retrieved 13 November, 2008 from http://www.nysscpa.org/cpajournal/2004/304/perspectives/nv1.htm

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Tradecraft Methodologies to Uncover Weapons for Mass Destruction in Iraq

It was on November, 2003 that Ekeus, one of the former Swedish Ambassadors to the United States of America, discussed in Irvine Auditorium the lessons that emerged from the twelve year long international efforts to uncover the WMD or the weapon for mass destruction in Iraq. Ambassador Rolf Ekeus who happens to be the first Executive Chairman of the Unite Nations Special Commission on Iraq, often referred to as UNSCOM, also addressed the Monterey Institute of International Studies regarding the tradecraft methodologies that were used for detecting as well as assessing the weapon programs of Iraq.

The mission of the United Nations Special Commission on Iraq or UNSCOM after the end of the Gulf War was to account for as well as to eliminate even the slightest possibilities of Iraq’s possessing prohibited weapons. The entire process took into account the combination of intelligence collection and on- site inspections. According to Ekeus, The backbone of the entire responsibilities of the UNSCOM was the inspections and the inspection methodologies. On the other hand, the inspectors who were carrying out the services of doing the inspection works said that the entire tradecraft methodology that was being used for the purpose was tracing the weapons for mass destructions in Iraq required to be developed to a large extent. Especially, the necessity for the development in the sources of the reliable and valuable intelligence was quite obvious.

Let us not evaluate the performance of the Intelligence Community in their task of assessing the nuclear, chemical and biological weapons activities in Iraq. The National Intelligence Council had produced an NIE or National Intelligence Estimate in October in the Year of 2002 since it was so requested by the members of Congress. The estimate came to reveal that Iraq was in its process of reconstituting its nuclear weapons and other weapons for mass destruction. But it is quite strange that the exhausted study of the Iraq Survey Group stated that the assessment or the NIE was almost completely wrong. According to the NIE, the biological weapons capability of Iraq was far more developed and advanced than they had been before the Gulf War. It also concluded that Iraq had the possession of the production facilities for mobile biological weapons. It also has been proved to be wrong.

There is, in fact, a long list that includes the claims in the NIE that ultimately emerged as false. For instance, the National Intelligence Community had stated that the production of Chemical along with sarin, VX, mustard and GF was renewed in Iraq. What is even more interesting is the fact that National Intelligence Community went to the extent of stating that Iraq had already accumulated a chemical stockpile that amounted to 100 metric tons to 500 metric tons. Even this information in the NIE was proved to be wrong. National Intelligence Community also came to the conclusion that Iraq possessed unmanned aerial vehicles that were intended to serve the purpose of delivering the ballistic missiles and the biological weapons. According to the National Intelligence Community, the ranges of these unmanned aerial vehicles were much greater than the 150 kilometer range as permitted by the United Nations. However, though there were aerial vehicles in Iraq that had the capability of traveling more than a range of 150 kilometers, they were not actually intended to be used for delivering the weapons for mass destructions or WMD such as the biological weapons (Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States, March 31, 2005).

Now, that the assertions of the National Intelligence Community in their NIE have been proved to be wrong in most of the cases, there were frequent rising of questions about why the estimate of the National Intelligence Community had included such wrong information. Though some of the defenders of the National Intelligence Community opine that the errors revealed in the NIE were caused due to the haste in the few months in the year of 2002, within which the NIE was prepared. However, the fact remains that most of the fundamental mistakes were committed as well as communicated to the policymakers much before the NIE had been produced. Therefore, it is quite evident that there was much time for the errors in the NIE to be corrected. But they were not corrected even before the war broke out.

The very first thing that is assumed out of the failure of the National Intelligence Community is that the Community does not have the ability to analyze and disseminate the information that it is unaware of. The NIE was totally crippled by its failure to collect the meaningful information about the programs of weapons for mass destruction in Iraq. The second that can be assumed is the fact that the National Intelligence Community badly suffered from lack of efficient analysts and genuine intelligence (Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States, March 31, 2005). It is also quite amazing that the collectors also failed to learn lessons from the behavior and intensions of Iraq in the past.

In this regard it would be quite relevant to mention that the pre-war assessment of the National Intelligence Community before the Gulf War failed to identify most of the chemical weapons storage sites in Iraq. When this led to a major issue after the Gulf War was over, the National Intelligence Community were determined not to commit such mistakes again. But in reality they did not prove have lived up to their determination. What are the basic reasons that played key roles in National Intelligence Community committing the blunders in the NIE or the estimate of the weapons for mass destruction in Iraq?

Poor target development is one of the factors ultimately led the National Intelligence Community to produce such an estimate that was typically characterized by errors and misconceptions. The problem was that the Intelligence faculty of the community could not get their intelligence concentrate on the issues that were most cared about. There can be no denial to the fact that the traditional collection devices that the individual collection agencies resort to have lost most of their efficiencies, especially in the context of the modern world. Considering the advancement that the modern world is characterized, a successful penetration of the hard targets is always the results of the innovation collection techniques or the assimilation of extremely creative collection capabilities. The fact remains that the National Intelligence Community has not yet developed the long term collection strategies as a result of which the very target development of the Community was too poor.

Poor analysis by the intelligence faculty of the National Intelligence Community is one of the reasons for the errors that the Community showed up in the NIE or in the estimate about the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, which they produced in October in 2002. In their Report to the President, March 31, 2005, the Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States stated that the scope as well as the quality of analysis had eroded badly in the National Intelligence Community. The Commission is also offers the suggestion that the Intelligence Community requires to restore the qualityof the analysis faculty. Though analysis is a matter of training as well as of tradecraft, it is also definitely as matter of expertise that the intelligent analysis of the National Intelligence faculty are always expected to have.

The errors that the National Intelligence Community have made in their NIE makes it clear that the way in which the analysts in the Community thought, researched, wrote, communicated and evaluated the evidences requires to be modified a lot so that the analytic tradecraft of the Community is strengthened to a larger extent. There are a number of instances, as the Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States reveals, where the finished intelligence by the Community was found to be very much ill supported, loosely reasoned and poorly communicated. There were also a number of analytic products in the NIE that made it quite hard to understand how much knowledge the National Intelligence Community had about an issue and how much their conclusions were dependent on assumptions and inference. The analysts in the Community should have understood that the decision makers would be much confident on the intelligence that they receive from them. It is expected of the analysts that they would admit what they are unaware of.

It as already been stated that though analysis if a matter of good tradecraft, it also requires much of expertise on part of the members of the Community. A number of areas have been identified where the level of expertise of the National Intelligence Community was too below the level that it should maintain. There are a number of wrong assessments that have been the results of failures in the technical analysis. It is also quite obvious that the assessments that have tested wrong also owe to the failure to understand the core technologies related to the weapons, especially the ones for mass destruction. It is, therefore, quite obvious that technical expertise, especially in the fields related to the weapons is quite necessary for the perfect analysis of the evidences that the National Intelligence Community had collected.

Lack of political context has also been found to be one of the reasons for the failure of the Community’s proper assessment of the possession of Weapons for mass destruction by Iraq. The analysis, as revealed by the National Intelligence Community, contains an extensive technical analysis of the suspected WMD programs in Iraq. On the contrary, there was little amount of serious analysis of the social as well as political situations in Iraq. Everybody would be quite unanimous over that fact that in a country like Iraq where dictatorship is the ruling force, the motives or the intensions of the Iraqi leaders is a must for the analysis to take into account. Had they done such kind of analysis, it would have been much easier to understand the intensions and motifs of Saddam Hussein. Had any one of the members of the National Intelligence Community been concerned about the socio-political situations in Iraq, the assessment that they had produced might have been much closer to the truth and reality. The drawback of the National Intelligence Community that comes to be quite obvious here is lack of imagination. Therefore, it may be concluded that the tendency of the Community to demark between regional analysis and technical analysis, and stressing on the later more and ignoring the earlier has led them to make mistakes in making the assessments that they have produced.

Another potential reason that played a very important role in the errors being committed in the NIE that the National Intelligence Community had produced in October in 2002, is overemphasis on the daily intelligence products but underperformance in the utilizing them in the most creative and effective way. The intelligences products that the policymakers as well as the members of the National Intelligence Community had received from the President’s Daily Brief or PDB or from the Senior Executive Intelligence Brief or SEIB that were distributed widely, were ‘more alarmist and less nuanced than the NIE’, so far as the opinion of the Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States is concerned. With their headlined that could hardly miss the attention of any reasonable person, the PDBs and the SEIBs had left a remarkable impression in many of the corroborating reports, while there were only a few reliable sources for such intelligence. The problem that happened with the policymakers and the analysts in the National Intelligence Community is that the intelligence that suggested the existence of WMD or weapons for mass destruction in Iraq was duly conveyed to the policymakers, while the information that was published later and suggested doubt in the validity of the intelligence provided earlier, hardly reached them. As a result, the policymakers made an assessment of the entire phenomenon on the basis of incomplete intelligence.

Inadequate information sharing is another reason that has accounted for the blunders committed by the policymakers as well as the analysts of the National Intelligence Community. There is, in fact, no scope for doubt that sharing of information has substantially improved since September 11. Again it has also to be taken into account that there is a long span of time between the attacks by Al Qaeda and the production of the reports by the National Intelligence Community. The irony is that the sharing of information had not spread to the other areas, especially in counterproliferation, a field where sharing of information is an essential necessity.

So far as the context of counterterrorism is concerned, the sharing of information or intelligence is much dependent on the personal relationships as well as co-location, as opposed to communitywide information networks that are typically characterized by integrity. The problem with the matter of sharing of information at the personal level is that the agencies or the individual departments act as if the information that they collect are their properties. Much of information that is termed as ‘operational’ by the FBI or the CIA is hardly shared, despite the fact that the analysts have repeatedly stressed on the importance of information sharing. And, it is quite needless to mention that lack of sharing of information testifies to the fact that extensive work has not been attempted in the process of assessing the possibility the existence of WMD or Weapons for mass destruction in Iraq.

Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States has also identified poor human intelligence as one of the factors that played a vital role in the failure of proper assessment of the possibility of existence of WMD in Iraq. When the NIE was developed in October 2002, the United States had too poor human intelligence on the Weapons for mass destruction programs in Iraq. Neither was there any enlightenment on the leadership intensions which is very important. It has to be admitted that the old approaches to human intelligence is not enough, considering the advancement that information technology has achieved in the modern times. It has also to be understood that the countries that dare to threaten the United States, is no doubt adequately aware of the modus operandi of the human intelligence services. Naturally, they do have the comprehensive idea about how to counter it.

Lack of human intelligence is definitely one of the factors that impair the assessment of the possibility of Iraq’s possessing WMD by National Intelligence Community. Even the worse is the wrong human intelligence or the human source that lies. It has been revealed by the Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States that “the Community's position on Iraq's biological weapons program was largely determined by sources who were telling lies--most notably a source provided by a foreign intelligence service through the Defense Intelligence Agency” (Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States, March 31, 2005). It is also quite strange that the National Intelligence Community was not able to find out that the information found is nothing but lies. Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States had also pointed to this fact as its Report to the President reads, “That the NIE (and other reporting) didn't make clear to policymakers how heavily it relied on a single source that no American intelligence officer had ever met, and about whose reliability several intelligence professionals had expressed serious concern, is a damning comment on the Intelligence Community's practices”.

The declining utility of traditional imagery intelligence against the weapon program that is characteristically unconventional is also one of the important reasons for the crippled assessment produced by the National Intelligence Community. The most ironic fact is that the imagery collection systems intended specially to work against the Russian Military did not serve well against Iraq, considering the unconventionalism that characterized the WMD programs of Iraq. There is nothing unnatural about it since it cannot be expected that such imagery collection system that is meant for one particular purpose would offer perfect service in other fields or atmosphere. It has also to be taken under consideration that there almost none of the traditional imageries that can enlighten the experts or the policymakers about the biological or the chemical facilities. The chemical weapon programs or the biological weapon programs can well be housed in the commercial buildings, generating the least suspicion in the mind of any one. This fact indicates that even if lots of photos and other evidences of chemical factories are found, the intelligence about the chemical weapon programs still remains unknown.

Another problem that contributed to the contributed to the misconception of the National Intelligence about the existence of WMD or weapon for mass destruction in Iraq, is the absence of a strong leadership. There was a conflict between the CIA’s Counterterrorist Center or CTC and the Terrorist Threat Integration Center that is now referred to as NCTC, regarding the presidential direction. The issues that were the reasons for the two associations falling out with each other were roles, resources and responsibilities. The intelligence reform act might have ended this conflict between the two communities. Since the National Intelligence has also had to fight with the powerful agencies. Therefore, strong leadership had played a great role in misleading the National Intelligence Community. Gregory F. Treverton and C. Bryan Gobbard says in their Assessing the Tradecraft Intelligence Acarote that “though Leadership commitments regarding data ownership and sharing seem shallow are issue that does warrant further evaluation”

Now that we have discussed the reasons that led the National Intelligence Community to have as well as reveal the wrong assessment of Iraq’s chance of possessing WMD or weapons for mass destruction, it is also very easy to have a comprehensive idea about how these mistakes could be avoided. The overview of the reasons also indicates a fact that none of the factors seem to be something that could not be helped, though some of the problems were really quite critical.

Sources

1. Report to the President, March 31 2005
2. National Security Research Dvision, Gregory F. Treverton and C. Bryan Gobbard, Page:41