Central Intelligence Agency

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is an American intelligence agency, responsible for obtaining and analyzing information about foreign governments, corporations, and individuals, and reporting such information to the various branches of the U.S. Government.

Controversies

Defectors such as former agent Philip Agee have alleged that such CIA covert action is extraordinarily widespread, extending to propaganda campaigns within countries allied to the United States. The agency has also been accused of participation in the illegal drug trade, notably in Laos, Afghanistan, and Nicaragua. It is known to have attempted assassinations of foreign leaders, most notably Fidel Castro, though since 1976 a Presidential order has banned such "executive actions", except during wartime.

Related Topics:
Defector - Philip Agee - Propaganda - Drug - Laos - Afghanistan - Nicaragua - Assassination - Fidel Castro - 1976 - Executive action - Wartime

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In 1996, the U.S. House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence issued a congressional report estimating that the clandestine service part of the intelligence community "easily" breaks "extremely serious laws" in countries around the world, 100,000 times every year. http://www.thememoryhole.org/ciacrimes.htm

Related Topics:
1996 - U.S. House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence - Clandestine service - Intelligence community

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In a briefing held September 15 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". http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A64802-2002Jan30?language=printer

Related Topics:
September 15 - 2001 - George Tenet - Worldwide Attack Matrix - Asia - Middle East - Africa

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On November 5, 2002, newspapers reported that Al-Qaeda operatives in a car traveling through Yemen had been killed by a missile launched from a CIA-controlled Predator drone (a medium-altitude, remote-controlled aircraft). On May 15, 2005, it was reported http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/14/AR2005051401121.html that another of these drones had been used to assassinate Al-Qaeda figure Haitham al-Yemeni inside Pakistan.

Related Topics:
November 5 - 2002 - Al-Qaeda - Yemen - Predator drone - May 15 - 2005 - Haitham al-Yemeni - Pakistan

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In June 2005, two events occurred that may shape CIA operations for years to come.

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Arrest warrants for 13 CIA agents were issued in Italy. The agents are alleged to have taken a suspected Egyptian militant from Milan on 17 February 2003 for extraordinary rendition to Egypt, where according to his relatives of the cleric, he was allegedly tortured. The removal of the militant wasn't unusual except that it was conducted without the approval of the Italian government. Similar operations of this sort have occurred worldwide since 9/11, the vast majority with at least tacit approval by the national government. Additionally, it allegedly disrupted Italian attempts to penetrate the militant's Al Qaeda network http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/story.jsp?story=650032. The New York Times reported soon after that it is highly unlikely that the CIA agents involved would be extradited, despite the US-Italy bilateral treaty regarding extraditions for crimes that carry a penalty of more than a year in prison. The agents involved in the operation are also reported to have booked lavish hotels during the operation and taken taxpayer-funded vacations after it was complete. http://www.alternet.org/story/23683/

Related Topics:
Italy - Milan - 17 February - Extraordinary rendition - Egypt - Al Qaeda - New York Times

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Soon after, President Bush appointed the CIA to be in charge of all human intelligence and manned spying operations. This was the apparent culmination of a years old turf war regarding influence, philosophy and budget between the Defense Intelligence Agency of The Pentagon and the Central Intelligence Agency. The Pentagon, through the DIA, wanted to take control of the CIA's paramilitary operations and many of its human assets. The CIA, which has for years held that human intelligence is the core of the agency, successfully argued that the CIA's decades long experience with human resources and civilian oversight made it the ideal choice. Thus, the CIA was given charge of all US human intelligence, but as a compromise, the Pentagon was authorized to include increased paramilitary capabilities in future budget requests.

Related Topics:
Defense Intelligence Agency - The Pentagon

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Despite reforms which have led back to what the CIA considers its traditional principal capacities, the CIA Director position has lost influence in the White House. For years, the Director of the CIA met regularly with the President to issue daily reports on ongoing operations. After the creation of the post of the National Intelligence Director, currently occupied by John Negroponte, that practice has been discontinued in favor of the National Intelligence Director, with oversight of all intelligence, including DIA operations outside of CIA jurisdiction, giving the report. Current CIA Director Porter Goss denies this has had a diminishing effect on morale, in favor of promoting his singular mission to reform the CIA into the lean and agile counter-terrorism focused force he believes it should be.

Related Topics:
National Intelligence Director - John Negroponte - Porter Goss

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Support for foreign dictators

The activities of the CIA have caused considerable political controversy both in the United States and in other countries, often nominally friendly to the United States, where the agency has operated (or been alleged to.) Particularly during the Cold War, the CIA supported various dictators, including the infamous Augusto Pinochet, who have been friendly to perceived U.S. geopolitical interests (namely anti-Communism), sometimes over democratically-elected governments.

Related Topics:
Cold War - Dictator - Augusto Pinochet - Anti-Communism

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Often cited as one of the American intelligence community's biggest blunders is the CIA involvement in equipping and training Mujahedeen fighters in Afghanistan in response to the Soviet invasion of the country. Many of the Mujahedeen trained by the CIA later joined Usama bin Laden's Al Qaeda terrorist organization. Zbigniew Brzezinski, the National Security Advisor under President Carter, has discussed U.S. involvement in Afghanistan in several publications.

Related Topics:
Mujahedeen - Usama bin Laden - Zbigniew Brzezinski - Carter - Discussed

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The CIA facilitated the so-called Reagan Doctrine, channelling weapons and other support (in addition to the Mujahedeen and the Contras) to Jonas Savimbi's UNITA rebel movement in Angola in response to Cuban military support for the MPLA, thus turning an otherwise low-profile African civil war into one of the larger battlegrounds of the Cold War.

Related Topics:
Reagan Doctrine - Jonas Savimbi - UNITA - Cuba - MPLA

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Criticism for ineffectiveness

The agency has also been criticized for ineffectiveness as an intelligence gathering agency. These criticisms included allowing a double agent, Aldrich Ames, to gain high position within the organization, and for focusing on finding informants with information of dubious value rather than on processing the vast amount of open source intelligence. In addition, the CIA has come under particular criticism for failing to predict the collapse of the Soviet Union and India's nuclear tests or to forestall the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Related Topics:
Double agent - Aldrich Ames - Open source intelligence - Collapse of the Soviet Union - India - Nuclear test - September 11, 2001 attacks

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Conversely, proponents of the CIA respond by stating that only the failures become known to the public, whereas the successes cannot be known until decades have passed. Immediate release of successful operations would reveal operational methods to foreign intelligence, which could affect future and/or ongoing missions. Some successes for the CIA include the U-2 and SR-71 programs, anti-Soviet operations in Afghanistan in the mid-1980s (though with the serious downsides noted earlier, the ultimate worth of these operations is open to considerable debate), and perhaps others which may not come to light for some time.

Related Topics:
U-2 - SR-71 - Soviet - Afghanistan - 1980s

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Criticisms of U.S. Citizens

Thousands of U.S. Citizens have claimed to witness CIA agents commit crimes - theft, drug dealing, rape, torture, and murder - against U.S. citizens - and use the CIAs powers of secrecy to cover up these crimes and fatal blunders. These claims have caused a public relations nightmare for the CIA. Some of these critics claim to be retired CIA agents. Other accusations include : torture to the point of life-lasting crippling effects, torture to death (accidentally to intentionally), freeing drug lords from prison early as informants, and teaching Islamic extremists in Iran how to cause more pain in torture by using finer points of the victim's anatomy against him. Many people distrust the CIA's secretive nature, saying it is no different than the secret police of any corrupt government. The CIA admits that some agents have committed crimes, but that these agents were punished by the CIA. Critics say that most CIA agents do not commit crimes against people, but the small minority that do, can do a lot of damage and neglect to report it to their CIA superiors. Local police and FBI point out that normal law enforcement are held accountable for every bullet fired, while the CIA can keep all information of a case secret, and often won't share information with other law enforcement authorities. The CIA is criticised for its power to stop a trial (as a Federal matter) or overturn the decision of any judge in any trial, as long as the trial isn't high level (government interests involved). Some groups are calling for the elimination of the CIA. The CIA was created to fight the tide of Communism in the Cold War, and was given unusual powers beyond normal law enforcement in order to battle the KGB, a secret police with powers beyond the law. Now that the cold war is over and the U.S.S.R. has become a democracy, there is no need for the too-powerful CIA, critics say. Some local police, detectives, and judges whose cases have been interfered with again and again by the CIA, agree with the elimination of the CIA.

Related Topics:
Communism - Cold War - KGB - U.S.S.R.

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