Needed Reforms in the CIA

This research paper addresses the question: Should there be reform in the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)? Since the time of the Watergate scandals, the CIA, the nation's premiere foreign intelligence agency, has been the subject of intense Congressional and public scrutiny and criticism concerning whether it has abused its powers and otherwise failed in its duties. Reforms are needed at the CIA, not to protect the nation against its abuses but rather to strengthen the agency's ability to protect itself against penetration by hostile foreign intelligence agencies, to strengthen its intelligence-gathering and analytical capabilities and to prepare the CIA to meet the new challenges of the post-Cold War era.

in a recent article, Bruce Berkowitz says that "most experts agree that U.S. intelligence needs reform. Indeed, at times it seems that everyone wants to have a hand in reforming the intelligence community." Since the CIA was first established under the National Security Act in 1947 to coordinate the collection of foreign intelligence, some critics have been opposed to the basic concept of a secret intelligence service on the grounds that it is incompatible with a democratic form of government in the United States. Nevertheless, such criticisms were muted during the first 15 years of the agency's existence, when a broad consensus prevailed that intelligence gathering from overt and covert sources and on occasion clandestine operations abr

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involvement of the CIA with Guatemalan army officers who killed an American citizen and agency efforts to cover up the affair. Today, only a relatively small part of the agency's resources and efforts relate to covert operations to destabilize foreign governments. However, as the recent discussions of proposals to eliminate Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein illustrate, situations may arise which call for covert operations. Under present law, such operations must be covered in advance by a presidential finding and be reported in advance to the select Congressional committees on intelligence. Some critics of the current agency, such as former DCI Stansfield Turner (1976-1980), have argued that clandestine and intelligence-gathering activities, including espionage, should be completely separated. Strengthening of intelligence gathering and analysis. In the post-Cold War era, the need for good intelligence on developments abroad, which cannot be met entirely from open sources, is as high as ever because of the presence of various threats to American national security, the proliferation of nuclear weapons, terrorism, the international illegal drug traffic, the activities of international organized crime and the potential threats posed b

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