The Intelligence of Old, the OSS (Office of Strategic Services)
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Prior to the CIA, the OSS was the predecessor to intelligence gathering and espionage activities. Propaganda, subversion, and post-war planning were all tasks assumed under the OSS as it is under the CIA currently. All done to reach their tactical objectives for US national interests.
The OSS was developed by President Roosevelt under the presumption that the US lacked intelligence-gathering capabilities thus posing a vulnerability in US security. A British advisory (Donovan) helped Roosevelt develop the functions and structure of an intelligence agency.
The structure and objectives of the OSS were based on the British Secret Intelligence Service agency.
Until Pearl Harbour, the bulk of intelligence came from the UK. The BSC (British security coordination) trained the US and Canadian agents until training establishment was sufficiently completed in those countries.
The OSS was officially established in 1942 by President Roosevelt “to collect and analyze strategic information required by the Joint Chiefs of Staff and to conduct special operations not assigned to other agencies”.
The OSS supplied policymakers with information during WW2, while other agencies such as the FBI and the Army were left to their own devices.
President Truman terminated the OSS with an executive order. The State Department and War Department took over the various branches of the OSS.
The OSS was especially useful in WW2 against the German war effort in identifying their strengths and weaknesses including technological analysis and battleground information of the Germans.
For the duration of World War II, the Office of Strategic Services was conducting multiple activities and missions, including collecting intelligence by spying, performing acts of sabotage, waging propaganda wars, and providing policy recommendations for governments.
The Newly Mandated CIA post-1947 (Central Intelligence Agency)
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In 1946, President Truman created the Central Intelligence Group and the National Security Act of 1947 and established the CIA in the US as a permanent agency.
The CIA was officially tasked with “gathering, processing, and analyzing national security information from around the globe”. The CIA gathers this intelligence primarily through human intelligence. Specifically, CIA operands and intelligence officers around the world report information from key countries the US is interested in. However, the CIA is increasingly relying on technological means of gathering information due to logistical hurdles of using human intelligence and exploiting the potential of technologies to provide accurate quantitative data that humans may otherwise err on.
It is worth noting that the CIA cannot legally enact law enforcement and focuses on foreign intelligence gathering. Although the CIA does inform legislative recommendations to federal and state government officials through the State Department.
The CIA personally states that its objectives are to protect the security of the United States through information. The CIA also expressly state that they help make policymakers make national security decisions. Interestingly, the CIA quite intelligently states its bias for their mission and objectives: “our mission stays the same: to protect the Nation and advance its national security interests”.
On the other hand, critics and international human rights groups have called out the CIA for its involvement in training for torture, conducting several regime changes in other countries, terrorist attacks, and planned assassinations of foreign leaders.
For instance, the most notable example is repeated attempted assassinations against a Cuban leader, Fidel Castro, and extensive bombing campaigns in Cuba by the CIA to quell revolutionary groups in the country.
From this, rather than relying entirely on the military for coercive objectives or only operating as a spy agency, the CIA has expanded its strategies to include covert paramilitary operations (militants not part of an official army).
The Modern Face of the CIA
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Recently, the CIA has indicated its priorities in a rare 2013 CIA budget leak that the Washington Post reports. The Washington Post declassifies the 2013 budget summary and reveals 5 priorities outlined by the CIA:
o Combatting terrorism
o Stopping the spread of nuclear weapons and other unconventional weapons
o Warning US leaders about important events overseas
o Defending against foreign espionage,
o Conducting cyber-operations
The Budget of the CIA is largely classified (through legislation) but is estimated to be about $15 billion USD according to the leaked budget document. Furthermore, the CIA’s budget hovers around 50% more than the budget of the National Security Agency (NSA).
The Washington Post goes on to note that the CIA’s budget indicates that the agency is increasingly focusing on “offensive cyber operations” and efforts to “hack into foreign computer networks to steal information or sabotage enemy systems”.
The budget summary goes on to highlight several countries as targets for intelligence gathering. For example, the Washington Post reveals that Pakistan is described in detail as an “intractable target,” and counterintelligence operations “are strategically focused against [the] priority targets of China, Russia, Iran, Cuba and Israel.”
The article goes on to state that Iran, Russia, and China are difficult countries to get past for intelligence gathering. In addition, North Korea is cited to be a country where there is little information. The CIA is unsure of the intentions of the North Korean ruling class with their nuclear weapons development program.
Furthermore, the Washing Post writes that the CIA has increasingly expanded its role from a spy agency to now a “paramilitary force”.
According to the Washington Post, the large increase in resources and funding the CIA received after 9/11 and the Iraq War has funded “secret prisons (such as the infamous Guantanamo Bay), a controversial interrogation program (using torture, rape, mutilation, experimentation, humiliation), the deployment of lethal drones (used in foreign countries for espionage and lethal strikes), and a huge expansion of its counterterrorism centre.”
The budget further breaks down $2.6 billion for “covert action programs” that would include “drone operations in Pakistan and Yemen, payments to militias in Afghanistan and Africa, and attempts to sabotage Iran’s nuclear program”.
The 2013 budget also signals the importance of advanced technology as an alternative to data gathering. They cite surveillance technologies around North Korea to monitor any nuclear weapons testing or nuclear facility developments.
Nevertheless, the CIA does claim that the increase in resources and its overall objectives have in fact protected the US from any major terrorist attack after 9/11.
The Washington Post report ends with the CIA stating an increase in investigating employees and contractors with access to classified materials to “mitigate insider threats by trusted insiders who seek to exploit their authorized access to sensitive information to harm U.S. interests”.
The Future of the CIA
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From analyzing the history and contemporary affairs of the CIA, the CIA has amended its role within US defence and intelligence agencies to encompass a broader role of clandestine, covert, and paramilitary operations. An expansion of its objectives coupled with a 54% increase in 2013 its budget compared to 2004 levels showcases the CIA’s increasing influence in the American polity.
Providing information to political leaders and government officials for policy decisions regarding international affairs is a central priority for the CIA. But in it lies a concern that much of the intelligence that government officials receive can be morally distraught. In other words, should the representatives of a country receive information from an agency that actively engages in humanitarian war crimes, cyberterrorism, lethal strikes, an attempt at global surveillance, and regime change?
To some, all these condemnable actions are justified for the security of their homeland. While others claim the agency has crossed criminal lines one too many times and that these acts immediately disenfranchise the CIA in its entirety. But one thing is for sure, the CIA will likely continue to exist and operate for generations to come, affecting people across the globe whether they like it or not.
[i] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Intelligence_Agency