= Central Intelligence Agency
Independent executive bureau of the U.S. government established by the National Security Act of 1947, replacing the wartime Office of Strategic Services (1942-45), the first U.S. intelligence agency. The CIA was established to gather intelligence abroad and report to the President and the N ational Security Council, his advisory body. It was given (1949) special powers under the Central Intelligence Act: the director may spend agency funds without accounting for them; the size of ist staff is secret; and employees, exempt from civil service procedures, may be hired, investigated, or dismissed as the CIA sees fit. To safeguard civil liberties in the United States, however, the CIA is denied domestic police powers; for operations in the United States it must enlist the services of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The CIA has often been criticized for covert operations in the domestic politics of foreign countries. The agency was heavily involved in the failed 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba, deeply embarrassing the United States. In 1971 the U.S. government acknowledged that the CIA had recruited and paid an army fighting in Laos. Its foreign operations came under attack in 1974 for involvement in Chilean internal affairs during the administration of Salvador Allende. In 1986 it was shown to be involved in the Iran-Contra investigation. While covert operations receive the most attention, the CIA's major responsibility is intelligence, in which it uses not only covert agents but such technological resources as satellite photos and intercepted transmissions.
MANICS REFERENCE:
'THE C.I.A. SAY YOU'RE ALL THEY'LL EVER NEED' (Drug Drug Druggy lyrics)
'THE CIA SAYS YOU'RE A GUILTY MAN' (Let Robeson Sing lyrics)
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Central Intelligence Agency Homepage
