The National Security Act of 1947, signed by President Harry S Truman, is how the Central Intelligence Agency was formally created. The “office off director of central intelligence” was also created as a result of this Act. Anyone in this position served as head of the United States intelligence community and acts as the President’s principal advisor. He/She usually updates the President of any and all intelligence issues concerning national security (Wagner 13). Even before the National Security Act, our nation’s officials used spies, secret agents, covert action, and the gathering of intelligence during wars. During the Revolutionary War, George Washington drafted Nathan Hale and other spies to help them acquire independence. Benjamin Franklin and John Jay also created secret missions and operations to ensure their success during this war. These missions included secret agents and double agents, sabotage, raids against British troops, secret codes, propaganda and the spreading of false information (Wagner 13). After gaining independence, George Washington asked the United States Congress to create a fund for secret missions during his First State of the Union speech. President Thomas Jefferson used this to take down a foreign government in North Africa in 1804. Between 1810 and 1812, James Madison used secret intelligence to try and obtain land from Spain in what we know today as Florida. During the Civil War, both Union and Confederate officers used secret information, military scouts, stolen mail, and telegrams and captured documents to try and gain advantages for their side (Wagner 14-15). In our nation today, the major role of the CIA is shaping American foreign policy. Employees of the Central I... ... middle of paper ... ...Central Intelligence Agency." Central Intelligence Agency. Central Intelligence Agency, 30 Nov 2010. Web. 26 Jan 2011. . Knight, Judson. "CIA (United States Central Intelligence Agency)." Encyclopedia of Espionage, Intelligence, and Security. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 9 Feb. 2011 . "Psychologists." Bureau of Labor Statistics. United States Department of Labor, 17 Dec 2009. Web. 18 Feb 2011. . Row, Kathleen. "Department of Psychology." East Carolina University. East Carolina University, 04 Aug 2010. Web. 25 Feb 2011. . Kouri, Jim. "CIA Director and Obama in Opposition Over Gitmo Terrorist Detentions." Family Security Matters 24 Feb 2011: n. pag. Web. 25 Feb 2011..
Richard Immerman bookends his monograph, The Hidden Hand: A Brief History of the CIA, with reflections on the role of public expectations in the shaping of the CIA’s image, both externally and internally. In-between, Immerman attempts to reconcile the antagonism between the CIA’s actions and its fundamental task. Stated otherwise, Immerman reveals a history of the “competition between covert, particularly paramilitary operations, and its core mission of collection and analysis.” Immerman, who currently serves as a Professor of History at Temple University, has held multiple positions within the intelligence network which has granted him access to privy material. He identifies his main questions in regard to the CIA as: What it does and has
“President Bush has stated that about a hundred detainees were held under the Central Intelligence Agency secret detention program, about a third of whom were questioned using “enhanced interrogation techniques. The CIA has a way of very publicly blowing their cover seeming to pop up wherever turmoil, and political problems arise. The CIA exists to prevent threats, its operations involve covert actions or spying through various means to gather critical intelligence data. The CIA dates back to 1947. The qualifications and skills are above average. The job of the CIA is to anticipate and quickly assess rapidly evolving international developments and their impact, both positive and negative, on US policy concerns. When researching the career of
Andrew Batten, the executive director of Frances Tavern in New York, explains that “Everything about being a spy went against the code of the gentleman,” speaking about espionage in the late 18th century. In this period, espionage was seen by most as a disgraceful profession. This is why although the Continental Army needed spies to help them win the Revolutionary War, so many people refused to do the job because they feared becoming someone who dedicated their lives to lies and deception. However, american history is full of brave, forward thinking men and women who dedicated their lives to taking risks in order to create a better life for themselves and for future generations. Among these courageous souls are the founders and members of the elusive Culper Spy Ring. This ring of spies and informants operated during the American
The American Revolution was a time when colonial peoples were forced to develop a Patriot identity separate from that of the British. The evolution of espionage provides a paradigm case to support the shift in identity. The role of espionage is really only seen through the eyes of the British and the Patriots, the loyalists in the colonies are absent from the narrative. This paper argues that the use of espionage during the American revolution and the consequences that it brought developed a distinct American identity by analyzing the societal benefit it played in the colonies (the motivation that drove American’s to spy), the exclusion of members with loyalist sympathies found by John Honeyman and Enoch Crosby and its reputation within the colonial side.
1985 became branded as the Year of the Spy by American press as a result of a string of high-profile espionage arrests. One of the most notorious cases from this time period is that of Aldrich Hazen Ames. In his thirty year employment with the Central Intelligence Agency’s Directorate of Operations, Ames compromised the second-largest number of CIA assets so far as is known; he was alleged to have disclosed virtually all of the CIA's active Soviet agents, many of whom were later executed or imprisoned. Ames received substantial payments for the information he provided- money that he had used years earlier to purchase a new Jaguar automobile and a $540,000 home, with cash, in Arlington. Apparently, these seemingly large expenditures by an employee making less than $70,000 a year had not raised questions at the CIA. For this research paper, I wanted to know how Aldrich Ames was so successful in engaging in espionage activities for almost a decade without attracting any attention whatsoever to himself, and also how this case in particular has transformed the counterintelligence practices of the United States Intelligence Community.
The National Security Agency/Central Security Service (NSA/CSS) was established in November 1952 to provide a cryptologic organization for the civilian and military leaders of the United States and to provide them with timely information. The National Security Agency (NSA) coordinates, directs, and performs highly specialized activities to produce foreign intelligence information and protect United States information systems through two main missions, Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) and Information Assurance (IA). The Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) mission uses cryptologic machines to break foreign codes to find out what they know and what they are doing. The biggest accomplishment publicly known was when they broke the Japanese military code in World War II and learned that Japan had plans of invading Midway Island. This allowed us to attack and destroy Japan’s superior fleet. With this intelligence, it was said to have shortened the Pacific war by over one year.
In May of 1919, the first civilian intelligence agency in the United States was created, called the Cipher Bureau. The Cipher Bureau was headed by the former Chief of the Army cryptographic section of Military Intelligence (MI-8), Herbert O. Yardley. The primary mission of the Cipher Bureau was the decryption of foreign diplomatic communications. Although the Cipher Bureau had many undocumented successes, their most famous success came during the Washington Naval Conference of 1921-1922 (NSA, 2012). The Cipher Bureau was able to decrypt the communications of the Japanese delegation to the conference. This information gave the United States a tangible advantage at the negotiation table against the Japanese, regarding naval limitations. Unfortunately, in 1929 the Cipher Bureau would be decommissioned as the new Secretary of State did not agree with the practice of Communication Intelligence (COMINT) during peacetime. This new Secretary of State, Henry Stimson, would go on to publicly rationalize his decision to close down the Cipher Bureau by saying, "Gentlemen do not read other gentlemen's mail (NSA, 2012)....
Multiple letters written by Washington express his appreciation for the information provided by the spy ring; however, three specific pieces of information Washington received from the Culper Ring were significant enough to have direct effects on actions taken by Washington and, occasionally, the Continental Congress. In addition to their active role in obtaining the three pieces of information, the Culper Ring, “was also responsible for the apprehension of the British spy Major John André.” Each of the vital pieces of intelligence discovered by the Culper Ring was a different form of information. One was a piece of counter intelligence, one was regarding troop movements, and one was information about the British’s planning for
Thesis Re-statement: The Culper Spy Ring and its unique members played a key role in deciding the final outcome of the American Revolution, and may have been able to change the course of the war.
knowledge of the CIA and who would later would be involved in the clash between the
The Central Intelligence Agency is an agency of federal government that gathers information on foreign military, economic and political activities. It also conducts covert political operations against governments to promote national security. The Central Intelligence Agency became incredibly active during the Cold War, which was mostly an intelligence war. During the years 1961 and 1963, the Central Intelligence Agency took many actions in attempt to fight communism and resolve the Cold War under Kennedy’s presidency.
Harry S. Truman founded the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) September 18, 1947. The main motive for the institution of the CIA was the unexpected attack on Pearl Harbor, which happened on the morning of December 7, 1941.In 1949, the Central Intelligence Agency Act was being devolved in addition to the 1947 Act, allowing the Agency more powers. The CIA was allowed to use private fiscal and govern technique. Also, the Agency was free from various usual limitations on the expenditure of funds. CIA’s most important purpose is to gather and save, decrypt and break down foreign intelligence to help both the President and Senior US government policymakers in helping America.
... Sept. 11th, 2001, terrorist attack on theWorld Trade Center and the unreliability of U.S. intelligence onWeapons of mass Destruction in Iraq have been a focus of intense scrutiny in the U.S. in 2004 particularly in the context of the 9/11 Commision , the continuing armed resistance against U.S. occupation of Iraq, and the widely perceived need for systematic review of the respective roles of the CIA, FBI and the Defense Intelligence Agency. On July 9th, 2004 the Senate report of Pre-war Intelligenceon Iraq of the Senate Intelligence Committe stated that the CIA described the danger presented by Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq in an unreasonable way, largely unsupported by the available intelligence. In a briefing held Sept 15th, 2001 George Tenet presented the Worldwide Attack Matrix, a "top-secret" document describing covert CIA anti-terror operations in 80 countries in Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. The actions, underway or being recommended, would range from "routine propaganda to lethal covert action in preparation for military attacks". The plans, if carried out, "would give the CIA the broadest and most lethal authority in its history".
Congress’s role in strategic intelligence is oversight. “Congressional oversight refers to the review, monitoring, and supervision of federal agencies, programs, activities, and policy implementation.”[1] There is a congressional committee and a system in place in order for Congress to largely exercise this power. With that said oversight goes back to the early days of the republic which also includes activities and contexts of Congress. Some of the activities and contexts included are: investigative, appropriations, and legislative hearings; by committees, select committee’s special investigations, and reviews and studies by congressional support agencies and staff. The authority for congressional
Woodward, Bob. Veil: The Secret Wars of the CIA 1981-1987. Simon And Schuster. New York -- London -- Toronto -- Sydney -- Tokyo. 1987