America's Dirty Little Secrets

The CIA, otherwise known as the Central Intelligence Agency, is a federal agency that is independent and has the responsibilities of providing the country of the United States with national security intelligence. The CIA is in charge of gathering information that is going on from other countries in order to help our own national security to become stronger, and to be able to protect the citizens of the United States better. However, what happens when the CIA tries to protect it’s citizens by screwing over other countries? What happens when the CIA is responsible for destroying other countries’ governments or placing leaders where we do not belong as a country to try and control politics that we should not even be involving ourselves in. While the CIA is meant to have good intentions for providing our country with national security, a lot of times the United States is responsible for meddling in affairs we never belonged in which cause harm, devastation, or death to the countries we force ourselves upon.

In 1974 when President Truman signed the National Security Act, which recognized the intelligence community and required congress be “fully informed”. In 1956 President D. Eisenhower establishes the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board to counsel the White House on the quality and adequacy of intelligence. 1976 President Ford establishes the Intelligence Oversight Board to advise the President of the legality of intelligence activities. 1977 The House of Representatives establishes the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. It was not intel 1991 that congress passed the Intelligence Authorization Act, requiring the President to inform congress in writing of all covert actions undertaken by the CIA. Then the attacks of 9/11 happened and in July 2004 the 9/11 Commission released a public report of approximately 40 suggested reforms, several of which were to improve Congressional oversight of intelligence activities. The committee also stated that congress was most responsible and their dysfunctional oversight of intelligence was always dependent on newspaper headlines. This leads to January 2007 when the House responds to the 9/11 Commission’s recommendations by establishing the House Appropriations Select Intelligence Oversight

The U.S. Cold War began shortly after WW II. The two world superpowers, the Soviet Union and the U.S., wanted to spread their own form of government. The Soviet Union wanted to spread communism to the “satellite nations” under its control, while the U.S. wanted to spread democracy to the newly created zones in Europe. NATO was created by North American countries to deter the Soviet Union from attempting to invade Western Europe. In retaliation to the creation of NATO, the Soviet Union created the Warsaw Pact with its Eastern satellite nations. Both alliances were created to deter the other from trying to influence nations under their spheres of influences, and during the Cuban Missile

Following the detonation of two atomic bombs over Japan and the closure of World War II, the United States of America and the Soviet Union entered a period of ideological conflict, the Cold War. The United States sought to preserve and protect democracy throughout the world while the Soviet Union established communist satellite states. During the Cold War, the United States government pushed for the expansion of the United States space program in an attempt to demonstrate power and innovation over the Russians, and in doing so, accelerated the process of space exploration and endangered the lives of their astronauts.

The United States developed into a world super power following World War II. Many of the Allies were deeply affected by the war financially and were struggling, thus leaving a vacuum that needed to be filled. The United States was thrust into the position of “policing” and assisting nations around the world. The Cold War was in many ways a psychological illusion however there were many factors that led to this illusion which were well founded. The Cold War stemmed from a multitude of factors, the difficult war against Nazi’s and Japan, Stalin behaviors were not trustworthy, Berlin blockade, Poland puppet government, the fall of China, the build up of arms and the birth nuclear weapons all fed fear-based anti-communist policies. In

After World War 2, everyone was happy, unfortunately this happiness didn’t last long. The Soviet Union and United States had many differences. One of those many being, the Soviets believing in Communism and the United States believing in Capitalism. This little disagreement sparked one of the deadliest wars in U.S. history. The U.S. put the Soviets under a policy known as containment. This meant the Soviets were going to be watched and kept under control. This was to insure Communism wouldn’t spread fast or anywhere else. The strongest example of containment is the Cuban missile crisis, while North Korea vs. South Korea is the weakest example.

During World War II the United States and the Soviet Union fought together as Allies against the Axis Powers, however the relationship between the two was tense. The Axis Powers were an alliance between Germany, Italy and Japan. The United States government was wary of the Soviets because they were communists and Americans were concerned about the Soviet leader, Joseph Stalin. The political systems of the two countries prevented them from reaching a mutual agreements such as the Cuban Missile Crisis, which then resulted in war. This nuclear war had a huge affect on the society, along with communism, education and even the Space Race. Hysteria was caused in result of the threat communism, which was later called the Red Scare. The Cold War impacted

As World War II came to a close, a new conflict arose among the two superpowers, Soviet Union and the United States. This conflict, known as the Cold War, affected nearly every country in the world, including Europe, Asia, and Latin America. Countries was divided between communist and non-communist countries, which caused tension, political unrest, and monetary difficulties. The Cold War was a war of words and thoughts and it was the timeframe after World War II that led to political and military tensions between democratic United States and communist Soviet Union.

Also to reorganize the nation's military and national security system with the National Security Act in 1947 which unified the Army, Navy, and Air Force under a National Military Establishment lead by the Secretary of Defense. The National Security Act also created the Central Intelligence Agency, the nation’s major department of intelligence. The Act established the National Security Council to enlighten the President on issues mostly related to American foreign policy as well. Though the National Security Council had many improvements to make, it was able to grow in power and prestige through the involvement in the Korean War. And through the past decades it has become of great use to American foreign policy (“Foreign Affairs”).

The Cold War (1941-91) was a time of political and military tension between Soviet Russia and the United States. During this time, there was a great deal of fear between the 2 international superpowers as they both possessed nuclear weapons capable of wiping each other out. The Americans were in constant fear of Communism and Soviet spies. The paranoia was exacerbated by some politicians who suggested that Soviet spies were everywhere. This fear made some Americans to accuse their own neighbors of being Communist sympathizers.

“The most important innovation of the NSA, the National Security Council, was a special source of concern for President Truman, who worried that it would become a ‘‘second cabinet.’’ (Stuart 2003) The National Security Council was made up of The President of the United States, The Secretary of the State, The Secretary of Defense, The Secretary of the Army, Navy, and Air Force, and The Chairman of National Security Resources Board. The NSC responsibilities were to “advise the President with respect to the integration of domestic, foreign, and military policies relating to the national security so as to enable the military services and the other departments and agencies of the Government to cooperate more effectively in matters involving the national security.” (“National Security Act of 1947" 2009) Another important agency that came out of the National Security Act was the Central Intelligence

The NSA is an unconstitutional Federal government agency established by a failed president. In 1952, the worst president in U.S. History, President Truman, established the National Security Agency (NSA). Truman is known for committing the worst crime against humanity by using a nuclear bomb on the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, as well as for losing China and North Korea. For a president that is known for his poor performance on foreign policy, Truman establishes the NSA to safeguard American interests from foreign and domestic threat to American National Security.

Following World War Two, the two legitimate world powers were the United States and the Soviet Union. With the Soviet Union under a communistic government and the United States being a nation founded in Capitalism, tensions between the two nations rose, resulting in the Cold War. Against the wishes of the United States, small countries in East Asia began to turn communist. Fear that one country turning would have a chain reaction turning many more, the United States turned to a policy of ‘containment’. This policy was tested in the Korean War and would be again tested in the Vietnam War. Starting as a War with the communist North Vietnam against South Vietnam and the French,

This act created a single Department of Defense, and created the Central Intelligence Agency, or CIA. These two new agencies acted as the first step in atomic warfare management.

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