The CIA and Foreign Policy
By Robert M. Gates
Winter 1987/88
Article Summary and Author Biography
Account of the work of the CIA, discussing in some detail the nature of the relationship between the intelligence-gatherer and the policy-maker. Since the 1970s the CIA has provided intelligence to Congress as well as to the executive, so that it now "finds itself in a remarkable position, involuntarily poised nearly equidistant" between them. It has not however abused this freedom of action, probably unique among world intelligence agencies, so as to 'cook ' intelligence. CIA deputy director.
Robert M. Gates, a career intelligence officer, is Deputy Director of Central Intelligence. He served on the National Security Council staff
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The function of the Central Intelligence Agency is to assist the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency in carrying out the responsibilities outlined above.
To accomplish its mission, the CIA engages in research, development, and deployment of high-leverage technology for intelligence purposes. As a separate agency, CIA serves as an independent source of analysis on topics of concern and also works closely with the other organizations in the Intelligence Community to ensure that the intelligence consumer—whether Washington policymaker or battlefield commander—receives the best intelligence possible.
As changing global realities have reordered the national security
The CIA is one of the U.S. foreign inteligency agencies, responsible for getting and analyzing information about foreign government, corporations, individuals, and reporting such information to the various branches of the U.S. government. The State Department's Bureau or inteligence and reserch and theDefense Department'sdefense inteligence agency comprise the other two. Its headquarters is inLangley, Virginia, across the Potomac River from D.C. The Agency, created in 1947 by President Harry S. Trueman, is a descendant of the Office of stratigic Services(OSS) of World War 2. The OSS was dissolved in October 1945 but
The CIA's original job was primarily intelligence gathering, but when Communism started to spread, the National Security Council directed that the agency take part in political, covert, paramilitary, and economic operations. When the Korean War broke out, the CIA performed these operations, it also had additional requirements to support the combat forces.
In this paper the subject of interest is the role of congress in the oversight of strategic intelligence, or the lack there of. Does congress have a proper role in the oversight of strategic intelligence? If not what should the proper role be? These are the questions best answered by looking at the history of congressional over sight and where it is at today. The next few pages will cover the topics above and shed light on what it is congress calls oversight.
The 1776 united States of America Declaration of Independence contain the words that succinctly describe our national objective, strategy, and message, “We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.” In today’s United States of America, the world acknowledges American’s as the preeminent owner of individual freedoms, holding and promoting these three basic principles for some 240 years. During these years, the U.S. has employed the use of intelligence to shape its objectives and strategies, and then in times of war used the same intelligence to shape strategic messages against foreign powers. However, as hostilities decline and give way to the restoration of relative peace, the use of intelligence for strategic messages against foreign powers ceases. Under these circumstances, the void created by secession of U.S. messages, provides a communication opportunity to foreign powers for transmission of anti-U.S. messages. Attempts have been made to reinstate the offices that during war countered these anti-U.S. messages to a comprehensive reorganization of the U.S Government intelligence community. This paper does not support creation of a new agency or department to utilize existing strategic intelligence.
Since 1947, when the Central Intelligence Agency was created, the United States has had an organization that has the sole purpose of conducting covert operations, collecting information, and providing that same information to the respective personnel. Although, this, by some, has been considered conflictual as the CIA is handling those three actions. It is considered that this may be a conflict of interest in a means of, the same people that are collecting information, creating a bias opinion, are conducting the covert action being carried out. This could create a bias work environment. Due to the professionalism and 60 years of success to show for it, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and National Clandestine Service (NCS) conducting
Providing for the common defense means that the United States government must preserve the rights, freedom, and safety of the nation as a whole. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) fulfills this goal, as the agency collects, analyzes, and processes information at an international level and utilizes the data to further bolster our nation’s intelligence and security against foreign countries. Without the CIA, we would not be able to be one of the strongest nations on the planet.
John D. Negroponte is a lifelong diplomat who was called by his president to handle one of his most sensitive and complex diplomatic missions to date - that was the reformation and integration of the United States Intelligence Community under the newly formed Office of the Director of National Intelligence. John Negroponte was not considered to be an idealogue or a neocon, and he had a long pedigree of successful performance in difficult positions. Serving in multiple positions spanning forty years, Negroponte was a pragmatic realist who got things done. Although there were some early detractors to Negroponte’s appointment (former Navy Secretary John Lehman opined “John Negroponte is a superb diplomat, but with no interest or experience in the intelligence
In her 1999 book Flawed By Design, Stanford academic Amy Zegart examines the three main American national security agencies: the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), and the National Security Council (NSC). She covers the history of each of the agencies from creation to the 1990s. While going through each of their histories, she makes a point to break down their histories into their creations and evolutions. This breakdown allows Zegart to effectively and concisely support her conclusion that the agencies are flawed by design. Furthermore, her conclusions are relevant to the U.S. military today. Any competent military professional should learn lessons from Zegart as the lessons she offers have keen importance
CIA: CIA stands for Central intelligence Agency and is run by the United States. What the CIA does is collect, analyse, and evaluate foreign intelligence to help the president and major parties of the US Government to make decisions about National Security, being without and outside the country.
Congress plays a vital role in strategic intelligence through the use of operational oversight and budget control, but this has become an issue of concern in recent years. Congressional intelligence committees uphold high decisions pertaining to every type of intelligence collection that exist, and was founded on the concept of no one person having absolute power. This is the concept that undergirds the importance of the oversight of national intelligence. Since the U.S. involvement in Operation Iraqi Freedom, Congress has not had a very robust congressional oversight on intelligence and left the decisions to that of the president and the intelligence agency governing important operational matters.
The Director of the C.I.A. reports to the Director of National Intelligence and acts as the head of the C.I.A. As the director of C.I.A he has four responsibilities. One, he collects intelligence through human sources but cannot use any internal security functions or law enforcement powers. Secondly, he correlates and evaluates intelligence connected to national security and appropriately circulate this information. Thirdly, he collects, directs, and coordinates any collection of national data outside of the U.S. done by the C.I.A. Lastly, he in charge of any other duties and functions the President or Director of National Intelligence may direct that affects national security.
The Intelligence Community is a cooperative federation of sixteen separate United States government agencies that worked separately and together on matters of foreign relations and national security. One of these agencies is the Central Intelligence Agency which is to collect, analyze, evaluate, disseminate foreign intelligence to assist the President and senior US government policymakers in making decisions relating to national security. Therefore this paper will discuss Central Intelligence Agency history and the role it plays in combating acts of terrorism.
There is a little of that, but that’s only part of the story. According to the CIA website, the employees of the CIA provided intelligence to the President, the National Security Council, and all other government officials who make and carry out US national security policy. They do this by providing timely and accurate information on foreign threats, and perform counterintelligence or other special activities relating to foreign intelligence and national security when asked by the president. Counterintelligence, is used to prevent threats from obtaining secret information, and in some cases, spreading disinformation to confuse them. When tasked to a specific project, the CIA follows something called the Intelligence Cycle. this is a five-step process that ensures they do their job correctly by making them work through a system of checks and
The CIA was created in 1946, not only to control and withhold secret information for policy makers, but also to fix rivalry and distrust between civilian agencies and military intelligence services. This was previously the job of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Office of Strategic Services (OSS). The CIA also notoriously contains documentation of U.S. initiated torture.
The United States has had a long and complicated journey with intelligence. Throughout its early history, the United States had a sporadic relationship with the intelligence community, only utilizing intelligence during wartime. After World War II, it became clear that the United States needed to enhance its intelligence gathering systems in order to prevent another disaster of this magnitude. Reacting to this pressure, policymakers soon drafted and passed the National Intelligence Act of 1947, creating the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the United States’ first peacetime intelligence agency. Though not always entirely authorized to do so, the CIA has carried out many covert operations with varying levels of success. Despite the fact that some of these operations have been a success, covert operations have largely been a detriment to the United States; covert operations hurt the United States’ public image, rarely fix the original problem entirely, and were not meant, by those who drafter the National Intelligence Act of 1947, to be carried out by the CIA.