CIA

9 Pages 2336 Words

Everyone has seen a James Bond movie at some time or another. In this paper we will look at the real life James Bond’s that exist in the United States in the form of the Central Intelligence Agency. Ill cover its inception, mission, where it gets its funding, and what areas it has domain over. I will also talk about some of the controversy that surrounds this secretive organization and the ever-changing role that it has in today’s government.
The Central Intelligence Agency was created on September 18th, 1947 by legislation proposed by President Truman and later enacted by Congress. It was created to replace the Office of Strategic Services or OSS, which was terminated due to opposition in the government. Up until that time the OSS was the chief intelligence gathering body for the United States. The CIA was created to replace the OSS and be a permanent and independent executive intelligence agency designed to coordinate intelligence information collected by separately established intelligence agencies. However this proved to be more difficult than it sounded. The FBI, being the CIA’s chief competitor in the intelligence field, began a bureaucratic rivalry between the two agencies that many feel still exist today. In 1948 an agreement was reached between the CIA and the FBI. The FBI would handle all domestic security matters in the United States and limited the CIA in a domestic capacity to having an Office of Policy Coordination to have direct dealings with foreign individuals and groups. The CIA was to handle the securing of national secrets and foreign intelligence.
The CIA’s mission is still much the same today. It is responsible for gathering information and intelligence on matters of national security and foreign affairs. The CIA also cooperates with other various agencies to counter the attempts of other nations to gather intelligence on the United States. In addition to these responsibilities, it also engages i...