Central Intelligence Agency (Cia), Its Creation and Essay

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Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), its creation and the different roles it plays. The duties of the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) are also highlighted in the paper. The paper also highlights the Intelligence Reform Act of 2004 and the amendments that were made after the date of enactment. Lastly, the paper discusses the major components of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the roles played by them in order to guarantee the efficient running of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

Central Intelligence Agency

The CIA is an independent agency, whose functions are not disrupted by the United States government without any necessity. This agency is dedicated towards providing national security intelligence to the senior policy makers of the United States of America. ("CIA vision, mission," 2013)

The Central Intelligence Agency, (CIA), is responsible for collecting and analyzing information in relation to the plans and strategies of the enemies of the United States of America. This agency is also responsible for collecting the information which later becomes the basis for the important decision making processes. In addition to that, the Central Intelligence Agency, (CIA), is also responsible for providing the president and the concerned policy makers with the necessary intelligence required for making various policies. It also conducts covert operations, at the direction of the president, to prevent threats from damaging the United States of America's society and to achieve policy objectives that are being set by the United States policy makers. ("CIA vision, mission," 2013)

History of CIA

Intelligence had been conducted by the Unites States of America since the times of the president Washington. But these intelligence services were coordinated on a national level during the World War II. Before the World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed William J. Donovan, who was a New York lawyer and a great war her, to act as the supervisor of information coordination. Donovan was appointed as the director of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), which was the intelligence agency of the United States of America prior to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), in the year 1942. But after the World War II the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was being terminated and its functions were transmitted to the State and War Department. Apart from the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), many other war agencies of the United States of America were terminated after the World War II. ("History of the," 2013)

The foundation of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was laid down in the year 1947. It was created when President Harry S. Truman signed the National Security Act. The basic function of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is to help the Director of Central Intelligence Agency in carrying out his responsibilities. ("About CIA," 2013)

Two basic purposes for the creation of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) at that time were to collect and analyze all the information regarding the abilities of the friendly and unfriendly countries and to transmit this information to higher government officials. In the beginning, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) directed all its resources towards collecting as much information about Russia as possible. This concentration of intelligence services on a few countries, such as Russia, Japan and Germany, made the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) neglect the new rivals of the United States of America and hence a need for more diversified intelligence activities occurred. (Canon, 1980)

CIA Today

In the present era CIA is responsible to provide higher level government officials and policy makers with national intelligence information. The Director of Central Intelligence Agency is appointed by the president on the advice of the senate and other officials. It is the responsibility of the Director of Central Intelligence Agency to manage the personal and the operations. The Director of Central Intelligence Agency also has a staff, with the help of whom he resolves issues related to public affairs, human resources, protocol etcetera. ("Today's CIA," 2013)

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has four major components namely; National Clandestine Service, the Directorate of Intelligence, the Directorate of Science & Technology, and the Directorate of Support, all these components work in coordination to carry out the intelligence cycle. The intelligence cycle can be defined as a process of collecting, analyzing and transferring information, in relation to intelligence, to the government officials of the United States of America. ("Today's CIA," 2013)

Workforce of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)

The number of workers employed in the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the budget allocated for this agency are not disclosed publicly.
There, however, is a misconception that prevails among the people regarding the budget allocated to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Most of the people believe that the budget allocated to this agency is unlimited. This, however, is not true as the budget allocated to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) goes through rigorous scrutiny and is approved by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and the Defense Subcommittees of the Appropriations Committees in both houses of Congress. Strict regulations apply to the budget allocation of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), which are similar to the regulations applied on the assets and budgets of other government organizations. ("Frequently asked questions," 2013)

Leadership of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)

Two major components of the leadership of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) are the; Director of the Central Intelligence Agency and the Director of National Intelligence. ("About CIA," 2013)

Director of the Central Intelligence Agency

John O. Brennan is the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. The Director of the Central Intelligence Agency is the head of the Central Intelligence Agency and he is accountable to the Director of National Intelligence. The Director of the Central Intelligence Agency is nominated by the president of the United States of America and after nomination he is being confirmed by the Senate. ("Leadership," 2013)

The duties performed by the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency include, collection of information through human resources and all other acceptable means. But he is prohibited to use the police or any other internal security service. He is also responsible to do the correlation and evaluation of the available information. In addition to that, he is also required to transfer or disseminate this information appropriately to the concerned authorities. The Director of the Central Intelligence Agency is also responsible to coordinate and supervise the collection of intelligence information outside the boundaries of the United States of America with the help of the appropriate resources. ("About CIA," 2013)

In addition to the above mentioned responsibilities, the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency may be required to perform any other functions that are related to, or that may affect, the national security of the United States of America on the command of the President or the Director of National Intelligence. ("About CIA," 2013)

The Director of National Intelligence

James R. Clapper is the Director of National Intelligence of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The responsibilities of the Director of National Intelligence include, ensuring that the intelligence information has been provided to the president and other government officials. He is also responsible for ensuring the timely provision of the national security intelligence to the president and other concerned authorizes. It is also the responsibility of the Director of National Intelligence to get the reports and comments of all heads of the departments of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) on the preparation of the budget for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). In addition to that, he has to be present in the process of the preparation of the budget. In addition to that, he is also responsible for ensuring that the National Intelligence Program has been appropriately implemented in all the departments. Apart from that, the Director of National Intelligence is responsible for supervising the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) and he also has the authority to establish other intelligence centers of the same kind, if and when he considers necessary. ("Responsibilities and authorities," 2011)

Functions of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)

The primary responsibility of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is the collection, analysis, evaluation and delivery of the foreign intelligence to the President and other concerned authorities. This information is transferred to the President and the policy makers so that they can make efficient decisions regarding the security of the United States of America. The process from the collection to the dissemination is very complex and it contains various steps.

First the officials of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) identify the problem that may threaten the security of the United States of America, at occasions this problem is being identified by the President or other government officials, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) then find ways to collect information about this problem. The information is being collected by the translation of the news papers or by the decryption of coded messages or through imagery satellites. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) then analysis the information and takes out the facts that.....

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