HOMELAND SECURITY AGENCY

Homeland Security Agency

Homeland Security Agency

The purpose of the CIA is to gather information from around the world and use that information for national security. Before the CIA was created the United States had other ways or gathering intelligence information but they weren't nearly as sophisticated as the way that the CIA gathers information. Due to a lack of national security in the United States the Japanese Royal Air force was able to attack Pearl Harbour on December 7th, 1941. After this disaster it was apparent that a strong well organized group would need to be put together to gather intelligence information for United States national security. The Office of the Coordinator of Information (COI) was created following the attack so that the United States would have a better way of gathering information on foreign intelligence. By 1942, the COI and the military's intelligence units were units were forced to work together more closely, and The COI was renamed the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). After world War Two in 1947 United States law makers saw the Soviet Union as a threat to national security. Congress passed the national security act and theory created internationally an informational unit of the government to gather and sort out information they called it the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

The CIA gathers information only on foreign countries or people not about the United States or its citizens. The CIA has two missions the first one is to provide timely and accurate intelligence on threats to America's security. And the second mission is to conduct counter intelligence to protect our nation's secrets when there is a threat to our national security. The CIA's activities in foreign countries are limited by law. The CIA does their work by taking risks to get the job done, by working with their co-workers throughout the agency and the intelligence community, personal and organizational integrity, by having an total participation of a diverse and an excellent work force, accepting accountability for their actions, adapting to a changing world environment and evolving customer needs. They keep going a continuous improvement in everything that they do They perform intelligence and counter intelligence activities. Only the president can decide when the CIA should undertake a covert action. The National Security Council usually recommends these actions. The CIA supports the overall US government effort to fight international terrorism by collecting, analyzing, and disseminating intelligence information on terrorist groups. The CIA does neither of the two conduct assassinations or engaging in drug trafficking. The Executive Order of 1981 prohibits the Central Intelligence Agency from engaging, either directly or indirectly, in assassinations. Both Congress and the Executive branch oversee the Central Intelligence Agency's activities. The CIA is not a policy making organization (U. S. Department of Homeland Security, 2004).

The CIA performs intelligence and counterintelligence activities. The CIA stands for intelligence that gives a decent value to the management of crisis, the development of policy, the conduct of war, and a commitment to its customer in its time ...