The CIA, which stands for Central Intelligence Agency, is one of the best known and most
controversial spy agencies in the world.
Their involvement with the Bush administration in regards to so-called enhanced interrogation,
extraordinary rendition, and other such offenses, as well as their adventures in South America,
have made them infamous.
However, they are also one of the most misunderstood.
Many people are confused about the limits of the CIA’s authority, and what they are
really up to (and have been up to) over the years.
In today’s article, we will go over 10 ways people misunderstand the CIA.
10.
The CIA Is Probably Not Watching You
Many people like to joke about how the CIA likes to watch American citizens, but that
is actually the FBI’s job.
The FBI has law enforcement authority and has certain jurisdiction when it comes to
looking out for possible federal crimes on American soil, by American citizens.
However, the CIA isn’t really supposed to be particularly involved with the internal
affairs of United States citizens.
The real charter of the CIA is to collect information overseas, especially about foreign
actors or countries that might cause harm.
Now, this doesn’t mean there is no way the CIA would ever be listening to you, but if
they are, it’s almost certainly because you were talking to someone from another country
that they deem a potential threat in some form.
So, unless you are talking online to potential terrorists, there is no real reason the CIA
would be monitoring your conversations.
Now, as we mentioned this doesn’t mean the government isn’t necessarily spying on you,
as the FBI, the NSA, or others do have certain jurisdiction within the USA, but it is very
unlikely to be the CIA.
9.
You Are Not Required To Learn A Foreign Language To Join Them
The CIA is often considered to be one of the most elite of the elite, and many people figure
that unless you have excellent language skills and can speak at least one second language
fluently, you likely don’t have much chance of joining up.
Now, if you are going to work in a foreign country you may want to know the local language,
but the majority of CIA agents don’t actually need to be bilingual or multilingual.
Now, it is a plus and will even net you a cash bonus (and probably better opportunities)
if you can show the proper proficiency in one or more foreign languages.
However, there is no actual need for it to join.
There are dozens of positions that don’t require foreign language skills, and those
positions need to be filled.
On top of that, if you decide after joining that you are interested in a position that
requires you to learn a foreign language, the CIA will be happy to teach you using their
own systems.
They believe with only 1,000 hours, using the right methodology to teach you, you can
learn at least a basic fluency in another language.
Using these methods, they teach officers to communicate with agents all over the world,
allowing the CIA’s reach to extend to every corner of the globe.
8.
The Claim That The CIA Gave Crack To The Black Community Is Probably Nonsense
Years back before the internet could both spread and debunk nonsense, a popular claim
went around the country that the CIA had actually distributed crack to the inner city black
communities, and not just as part of an overall plot to make money for revolutionaries in
South America, but also specifically to harm the black community.
However, there is a lot of reason to believe that the claims about this are complete and
total nonsense that have taken hold over the years because there was not enough pushback
over the obvious falsehoods at the time.
All of the claims can be traced back to a “journalist” named Gary Webb, who wrote
a story called “Dark Alliance,” which made the insane claims about the CIA.
This story claimed it all started in Los Angeles and went from there, even though most experts
say that the spread of crack was pretty much simultaneous among most large cities.
Furthermore, at the time of Webb’s story, every newspaper of record tore it full of
holes and pointed out it had nothing at all to back it up, and plenty that contradicted
it.
However, because the CIA is so generally distrusted (and/or despised), and many black Americans
understandably don’t trust the government, the myth took hold in the popular consciousness,
and it would be difficult to change most people’s minds about it at this point in time.
7.
They Are Not A Law Enforcement Agency
While there have been some reports of extraordinary rendition back during the Bush years, with
the help of the CIA, and some have argued this was an extreme abuse of power and of
international law, the fact is that especially within the borders of the United States, the
CIA has no real law enforcement authority at all.
Unlike the FBI, their job is not to make arrests, or enforce the laws of the United States.
Most CIA officers, at least within safe areas that they operate in within the US, do not
even carry firearms and are rarely expected to find themselves in danger on American soil.
Now, the FBI does have law enforcement power, and the two share information, so that doesn’t
mean the CIA will just let you go.
If the CIA somehow comes across information you are breaking the law while researching
foreign actors, and bringing the hammer down on you wouldn’t jeopardize their overall
investigation or intelligence gathering, they will quickly refer your actions to the appropriate
law enforcement agency, who will be more than happy to arrest you and ensure you pay for
your crimes — just don’t expect the CIA to do the arresting.
6.
The CIA’s Back And Forth Power To Launch Drone Strikes Against Suspected Terrorists
Because the CIA is cloaked in secrecy many people speculate often about what they are
actually doing in foreign countries, and just how violent they generally get.
In certain countries that are more dangerous than others, especially ones with active war
zones, you might find CIA agents who practically take on a paramilitary vibe.
In that sense, it has become increasingly useful for them to be able to take paramilitary
actions of their own, when they deem it necessary, without necessarily taking the time to coordinate
fully with the military, the executive branch, or other spy agencies.
Now, back during the Bush years, one of their greatest paramilitary powers was the ability
to launch drone strikes on suspected terrorist targets.
While President Obama certainly enjoyed launching drone strikes himself, he didn’t think that
the CIA should have the power to order strikes on their own, and took their toy away from
them.
However, President Trump has reversed that and once again allowed the CIA to order drone
strikes on suspected terrorists, if they think it necessary.
5.
Zero Dark Thirty Makes The CIA Look Really Good, But They Were Behind Its Production
The movie Zero Dark Thirty is a spy drama about the military, and especially the CIA,
regarding their efforts to gain intelligence that would lead them to the capture or killing
of Osama Bin Laden.
In the movie, torture is used and works very well in order to get the information needed.
The movie suggests that it was this information that eventually led to the death of America’s
number one enemy.
The CIA wants you to believe, with the help of their propaganda arm, that torture was
truly necessary, and that it works.
And yes, we say “propaganda arm” because the CIA was heavily involved in the creation
of Zero Dark Thirty.
They offered the filmmakers all kinds of information to better make their movie, in return for
making sure that the CIA looked really, really good.
And, there is good reason to believe they are being extremely deceptive.
Many experts on intelligence suggest that the CIA’s argument is really specious and
that the torture was not what lead us, ultimately, to Bin Laden’s location (and final end).
Of course, those who want to believe that torture works are happy to accept the movie’s
message, and allow the CIA to remain completely off the hook for those actions.
4.
Like Any Spy Agency, Classified Information Is On A Need To Know Basis
Many people think that if they join a spy agency, suddenly they will be able to see
how far down the rabbit hole things really go.
Except, they are almost certainly going to be disappointed if they join the CIA with
this mindset.
Even if you can reach the highest levels of security clearance, your hopes of learning
about UFOs, the Kennedy Assassination, or whatever other burning questions you have,
is pretty much nil.
The reason for this is that you are very, very unlikely to have any reason to need that
information to perform your job and its various duties.
The reason they’re so careful with classified information is that no matter how trusted
someone is, people are fallible, and the more people know, the weaker the secret actually
is.
What this means is that even if you are the President of the United States, you don’t
get to go pawing through all the secret, classified files that have been hidden over the years
for various reasons.
Even the President has to go through a process to get to certain information, and might find
resistance or stonewalling if he is asking for something he doesn’t really need to
know.
All classified information, no matter what level you are, is strictly on a need to know
basis — and even then, only as much as you absolutely need to know.
3.
CIA Officers Can Have All Kinds Of Non-Clandestine Or Even Boring Jobs
One thing many people think is that the CIA is almost entirely officers running around
doing dangerous missions — or maybe some people in offices working frantically to hack
our enemies, or prevent hacking from the same.
However, most CIA officers are pretty normal people, with pretty normal jobs.
For the most part, they might not even run into anything that classified or important
the vast majority of the time.
The CIA needs people to run just about every function you could imagine, from janitorial
to HR and everything in between.
Those people might spice up their lives by joking about how they would have to kill you
if they tell you what they did, but their job might actually be kind of boring.
Naturally, this doesn’t mean there is no excitement to it at all.
Just knowing you are working for such an important agency is likely a certain rush on its own,
and employees probably deal with crucial information or people at least now and then.
However, the main point is that the majority of CIA jobs don’t require you to put yourself
in any particular danger.
So, for those who are interested in joining the CIA in order to better protect their country,
but don’t particularly want a dangerous job, they need not worry — there are plenty
of non-violent or crazy and intense options to choose from.
2.
The CIA Has Toppled Governments and They Are Dangerous Rogues
Many people (including us) like to talk about the CIA’s adventurism in South America and
other parts of the world, and how they have destabilized governments, helped along coups
and revolutions, and worked to install puppet leaders around the world in support of the
United States government.
Some of this has had bad results that has left regions in a state of instability decades
later, and many blame the CIA almost entirely for these problems — especially the rise
of the drug trade and the lack of stability in South America.
However, while the CIA may have been involved in a lot of this, that doesn’t mean they
are a rogue agency, or that “the CIA did it.”
To say the CIA did it is like saying a gun shot someone.
In a certain sense it is true, the gun was fired and it sent out the bullet, but someone
else was holding it and pulled the trigger.
The CIA does not have unilateral authority to set policy, or destabilize countries and
the like.
The CIA answers to the government, and takes their marching orders directly from them.
Just like you wouldn’t blame the army itself for a country being invaded by our government,
the instability caused by the CIA was done by the government itself, the CIA was just
their chosen tool for the job.
1.
CIA Officers Get Information In A Way Most People Won’t Imagine
You might imagine CIA officers as the sneakiest and most in danger of the clandestine spies.
They go to foreign countries, blend in, get jobs, and use their language and culture skills
to work their way up and steal foreign secrets.
However, while CIA officers are often in danger in other countries, and can risk being identified,
and sometimes do take on a paramilitary or more spy-like aspect, the truth is a lot more
banal, because we want to minimize the risk to our CIA officers.
The most important training a CIA officer (who is a field officer) can have, and that
which they will likely use the most, is training agents.
Agents are essentially what we imagine most CIA operatives to already be — the true
spies.
Agents are recruited from the foreign country of origin, and usually already have positions
that get them close to important information.
The CIA officers groom and train these agents, turning them into assets that help the USA
learn valuable information about their enemies — and even allies — abroad.
This doesn’t mean CIA officers don’t sometimes go into very dangerous situations, and as
we said getting their cover blown can still be dangerous, but this use of foreign agents
to do the most risky work helps keep our people alive and collecting more and more important
information from around
the globe.