Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA, also C.I.A.) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, primarily through the use of human intelligence. It is only one member of the United States Intelligence Community, but possibly the most known. In contrast to the other US intelligence services, particularly the National Security Agency (NSA), the CIA's focus is on obtaining information from and through people (Human Intelligence, HUMINT) rather than through technology (Signals Intelligence, SIGINT).
The CIA is the only agency authorized by law to carry out and oversee covert action. The CIA has increasingly expanded its role, including covert paramilitary operations. One of its largest divisions, the Information Operations Center (IOC), has shifted focus from counter-terrorism to offensive cyber-operations. The CIA has been part of many criticisms and controversies. Even Wikipedia mentions many (leftist) criticisms. Some accusations may be due to disinformation by enemies, such as Communist black propaganda during the Cold war, but the CIA has itself been accused of disinformation.
History
Prior to December 2004, the CIA was literally the central intelligence organization for the US government. The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 created the office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), who took over some of the government and intelligence community (IC)-wide function that had previously been under the CIA. The DNI manages the United States Intelligence Community and in so doing it manages the intelligence cycle. Among the functions that moved to the DNI were the preparation of estimates reflecting the consolidated opinion of the 16 IC agencies, and preparation of briefings for the President.
When discussing the CIA, it is critical to understand when one is speaking of the older IC-wide responsibilities, or its present set of responsibilities. The IC still has internal politics, although an increasing number of interagency "centers", as well as the Intellipedia information sharing mechanism, are hoped to be improvements.
The current CIA still has a number of functions in common with other countries' intelligence agencies; see relationships with foreign intelligence agencies. The agency both collects and analyzes intelligence. The CIA's headquarters is in the community of Langley in the McLean CDP of Fairfax County, Virginia, a few miles west of Washington, D.C. along the Potomac River.
Sometimes, the CIA is referred to euphemistically in government and military parlance as Other Government Agencies (or OGA), particularly when its operations in a particular area are an open secret. Other terms include The Company and The Agency. They have been accused of narcotics trafficking and torture by Alfred W. McCoy, a professor of history.
See also
- Allied psychological warfare: United States - Including on the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), predecessor to the CIA.
- Holocaust documentary evidence: Allied intelligence - Including on the OSS.
- Nuremberg trials: Origins - Including on the OSS.
- Operation Gladio
- Operation Mockingbird
- Project MKUltra
- Regime change
- Conspiracy theory
