The Central Intelligence Agency is a United States federal government information-gathering and surveillance institution tasked with acquiring, developing, and scrutinizing national security information from throughout the world. The Central Intelligence Agency accomplishes this through the use of human intelligence, also known as HUMINT. Among the tasks of the Central Intelligence Agency is the fact that it is the only intelligence agency authorized by US law to perform and monitor secret operations at the request of the commander-in-chief. It has several strategic divisions through which it puts forth overseas political pressure. Currently, the Central Intelligence Agency is operating under the leadership of the Director of National Intelligence and although some of its abilities were initially transferred to the Director of National Intelligence, the Central Intelligence Agency has fervently grown especially as a result of its participation against terrorist operations all over the world.
The roles that have been bestowed on the Central Intelligence Agency have progressively expanded over time. Its divisions hold operations from focusing on counter-terrorism to trying to counter offensive cyber-operations. The Central Intelligence Agency has always been on the forefront on some of the most recent fights against terrorism and is linked highly in the locating of the Al-Qaeda leader, Osama bin Laden. Other than the apprehension of Osama bin Laden, the agency was also a significant player in the victorious Operation Neptune Spear. Although it has had its brighter days, the agency has also been a part of some contentious programs and operations.
Discussion
While the initial intent of the creation of the Central Intelligence Agency was to create some sort of defrayal quarters for the analysis and evaluation of foreign intelligence, the purpose has since been distorted with time. To this day, the main purpose of the Central Intelligence Agency is the collection, evaluation and dissemination of foreign intelligence and acting as covert agents. It is among these core responsibilities of the Central Intelligence Agency that it comes across as an agency that wants to be part of the creation of a utopian society. Among the priorities, that the agency has includes fighting counterterrorism, which is the initial responsibility of the Central Intelligence Agency as Warner (pg. 7) describes. According to The Role of Intelligence (pg. 306), others include the non-propagation of nuclear weapons that could be used for mass destruction. In this case, the agency has cited North Korea as one of the most difficult targets on their list of nations they need to fight in regard to nuclear weapons and use. The Central Intelligence Agency is also expected to keep the United States of America’s leaders up to date with information on any important events that may be taking place abroad.
The Central Intelligence Agency acts in part as the United States primary Human Intelligence unit and their overall evaluation unit. The first success of this agency in its utopian plans includes the fact that it has the capacity to obtain information from the other intelligence agencies among the United States government and other foreign intelligence units and consequently act upon it. It also plays a vital role in putting pressure where it feels the need to for instance in 1948; the Central Intelligence Agency did quite a great job in influencing the Italian election The Role of Intelligence (pg. 306). The election was won by the Christian Democrats. This was not the end of the Central Intelligence Agency purchasing elections and they applied this tactic of using its large funds to have their way in buying the power they wanted in whatever state.
One of the largest attempts in accomplishing their utopian plans must have been the hunt for Osama bin Laden. It was this act of terrorism that led to the creation of a specific division to deal with terrorism in the Central Intelligence Agency. The agency therefore began to realize that Islam terrorism was becoming more visible. It was by means of the Central Intelligence Agency that the formation of the Bin Laden Issue Station took place. The station was used to monitor Osama bin Laden’s activities as they developed as they worked on a grand plan to take out the terrorist organizer and financier. The Central Intelligence Agency officially became a major stakeholder in the involvement of the war against terror.
Another way through which the Central Intelligence Agency has been able to succeed in its utopian plans includes staying ahead of technology and not ignoring social media as a haven of intelligence according to Warner (pg. 5). By being in touch with the internet and having access to social media networks and chat rooms, the agency has been able to uncover and bring to a stop many crimes that would have however, been of dire consequence to the world Pfeiffer (Yahoo News). The Central Intelligence Agency cites that the internet has become quite the useful tool for them when it comes to looking for information Keefe (The New York Times). Not only are they covertly doing this but also they have embraced the internet and have become a part of it through the creation of accounts on several social media platforms as described by Pfeiffer (Yahoo News).
Through its ardent fight against terrorism that eventually saw the bringing down of the Islam terrorist Osama bin Laden, the Central Intelligence Agency has been trying to keep the world from going into unnecessary wars. Other than that, their tactic to use resources in order to buy countries their government further goes to show their fervent hopes in creating a world with no disturbances and less socio-political wars and struggles. While most people do not advocate for some of the tactics that the Central Intelligence Agency applies in getting information or executing its plans especially on terrorist, all they try to do is move before the terrorists can move The Role of Intelligence (pg. 306). With the power stowed upon them to use information from other intelligence units, the Central Intelligence Agency have always been able to storm in on ongoing operations and try to impose themselves on the operations. However, its human intelligence has been able to be a part of a great solution especially when it comes to battling Islam terrorism across the entire world.
Not all these successes to its utopian plans have been devoid of obstacles and controversies. The Central Intelligence Agency has more often than not found itself in the middle of conflicts, especially with different governments. This happens when there is the plausibility of information that is considered as classified by the Central Intelligence Agency may be made public by the governments. Hillhouse (Washington Post). This becomes a threat to the Central Intelligence Agency and its agents because making such information public endangers the operation that the Central Intelligence Agency is expected to carry out and the whole program may be exposed. The amount of information usually held as classified by the Central Intelligence Agency at a given time, if let out, would be quite disastrous and cause so much harm to the world. Some of the operations they conduct save the world. Typically, the Central Intelligence Agency through its human intelligence is able to fight terrorist and also keep an open eye on cyber terror thus protecting the lives of so many individuals the world over.
In conclusion, it is correct to deduce that the Central Intelligence Agency has succeeded much in its utopian plans. Much as it has some shortcomings, their fair shares of successes have contributed to the world being a utopian society, much as it may not be entirely utopian, in the agency’s eyes. Through their fervent fight against all forms of terrorism and their sharp human intelligence, their need for the creation of a utopian society may just be around the next corner. Once they take down terrorist after terrorist and shut down cyber-crime; stay ahead with information so that they can be able to stop any attacks or wars that may be looming in the scope. Holding all other factors constant, the Central Intelligence Agency has done quite a lot concerning accomplishing its responsibilities in the way of its utopian plans.
Works Cited
Hillhouse. R. J. Who Runs the CIA? Outsiders for Hire. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com (2007).
Keefe, P. R. Don’t Privatize our Spies. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9e6D91731F936A15755C0A9619C8B63 (2007).
Pfeiffer, E. CIA Outwits Impersonators by Embracing Twitter, Facebook. Yahoo News. Retrieved from https://www.yahoo.com/news/cia-launches-twitter-and-facebook-accounts-210535915.html
The Role of Intelligence. Congress and the Nation. Retrieved from https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/kent-csi/vol38no1/pdf/v38i1a06p.pdf (1965).
Warner, M. The Creation of the Central Intelligence Group. (PDF). Cia.gov (2011).
