The CIA is a major American intelligence agency, and one of the oldest in the country, tracing its origins back to 1947, when it was created by the US Congress. The CIA has four functions: collecting data and information; analyzing and interpreting this data; producing reports; and conducting covert operations.
It is one of the most important intelligence services in the world. It has done some amazing, and also some very controversial things in its history that have shaped the world.
One of CIA’s main missions is to collect, analyze, evaluate, and disseminate foreign intelligence about matters affecting US national security.
Read on to learn some of the secrets.
The Most Secretive Facts about the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency)
1. The CIA helped train Afghanistan rebels in the late 1970s to fight the Soviet Union, many of whom would later form the backbone of Al-Qaeda.
2. They used a fake blood drive to gather DNA intelligence that provided needed intelligence and confirmation where Bin Laden was hiding. This is what led to the 2011 raid that killed Osama Bin Laden.
3. The CIA has mastered propaganda. One time they even created fake videos of Indonesian President Sukarno to harm his reputation among the Indonesian population and help overthrow his government.
4. They tried and failed numerous attempts to assassinate Cuban leader Fidel Castro prior to the 1981 Executive Order. This even including trying to plant bombs in his cigars.
5. The United States President is the only person capable of issuing an official order the CIA to conduct covert activities.
6. John F. Kennedy threatened to abolish the institution and “scatter it to the winds” after the embarrassing Bay of Pigs Invasion failed in 1961.
7. After much negative press and publicity over previous actions, the CIA is forbidden to be directly or indirectly involved with assassination per Executive Order 12333 which was signed by President Reagan in 1981.
8. The overarching U.S. intelligence budget, part of which is the classified CIA budget, is also rather secretive and not shared publicly.
9. Covert spy planes were instrumental in the Cuban Missile Crisis – these revealed hidden missile locations within Cuba.
10. Its first covert operation occurred in 1947, influencing an Italian election to prevent Communists from gaining a foothold in Italy.
11. The CIA has maintained strong ties to the United States media throughout the years and often used journalists to leak facts, stories and misinformation. Though they use journalists abroad to gather intelligence on other countries, the Church Committee in 1976 revealed the CIA had been bribing journalists on the home front for years as well.
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Video:10 Craziest CIA Covert Operations
Over the years the CIA has conducted some of the most bizarre and insane covert missions to gain intelligence on anything and everything that could be used against the United States.
This video is a fun animated look at some of the craziest covert missions the Central Intelligence Agency has experimented with, and we promise you number 3 will blow your mind!
Are these operations even legal? All will be revealed in today’s epic new video!
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CIA Facts Summary
In summary, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is the US intelligence agency that collects, analyzes, and evaluates information about foreign governments, corporations, and individuals to produce intelligence.
The CIA may need to do this for a range of reasons including counterintelligence, cyber-espionage, or other clandestine activities.
Most people do not realize this but there are actually 5 directorates within the CIA:
1) Directorate of Digital Innovation
2) Directorate of Science & Technology
3) National Clandestine Service
4) Directorate of Intelligence
5) Directorate of Support
Image Credit: “CIA Logo” by theglobalpanorama is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
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I’m Natalie Garcia and I started this website to share my love of trivia, facts and fun knowledge tidbits. We cover things like celebrity gossip, historical facts, tv shows, world leaders and just odd and random fun things. I started this site to have some fun with my hobby and share some useful information with you, our community. Please feel to send me your suggestions and feedback through the contact form. And if you have suggestions for things to write about, please shoot me a message!