Vietnam War short stories (vii) Human Intelligence (HUMINT) Philological Tips. THE Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is, perhaps, the most famous, most active intelligence agency in the world. It is the principal intelligence and counterintelligence agency of the US, established in 1947 as a successor to the World War II-era Office of Strategic Services (OSS). The law limits its activities to foreign countries; it is prohibited from gathering intelligence on US soil, which is a responsibility of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Officially a part of the US Defense Department, it is responsible for preparing analyses for the National Security Council. Its budget is kept secret. Though intelligence gathering is its chief occupation, the CIA has also been involved in many covert operations, including the expulsion of Iranian leader Mohammad Mosaddeq (1953), the attempted Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba (1961), the war against communism in Vietnam support of the Nicaraguan contras in the 1980s, and the Gulf Wars (Desert Storm for the liberation of Kuwait, and the removal of the Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq) and the protracted anti-terrorist campaign in Afghanistan. Throughout history, information derived from human sources has helped countries, particularly superpowers such as the US, shape foreign policy decisions. Human intelligence (HUMINT) is defined as any information that can be gathered from human sources. The National Clandestine Service (NCS) is the branch of the CIA responsible for the collection of HUMINT. The NCS is charged with strengthening national security and foreign policy objectives through the clandestine collection of HUMINT. NCS officers normally seek information filling gaps in Administration's knowledge base. They focus on acquiring information from individuals with access to vital foreign intelligence on the full range of national security issues. More often, HUMINT, along with other types of intelligence, is analysed to produce finished intelligence products for US policy makers. To give but one example, if Oleg Penkovsky ( codenamed “Agent Hero” a colonel with Soviet military intelligence (GRU) in the late 1950s and early 1960s) had not been provided CIA with detailed information regarding the Soviet's missile capabilities, the Cuban Missile Crisis might have had a completely different outcome. Contrary to what the majority of people might think, not everyone who works for an intelligence agency is a “spy” (or field agent). Intelligence agencies, such as the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) also hire scientists, engineers, and computer programmers and technicians to analyse, interpret, and store the information that field agents collect. On the administrative side, intelligence agencies might hire attorneys, librarians, graphic designers, psychologists, bookkeepers, human resources staff, and a whole slew of other professionals to keep the “business side” of the agencies' running. They even employ magicians to prepare manuals on the arts of trickery. But have you, dear Egyptian Mail reader, ever heard of an intelligence agency hiring wives? If not, read Diana J. Dell's A CIA Hired Wife Bares Her Soul, a short story in which numerous aspects of CIA practices and CIA agents' follies in Vietnam are exposed through a rough yet witty treatment. (To be continued next Tuesday)
