The CIA: Intelligence and Security Against the Global South
...es today, one of these countries is Libya. In recent years, US Intelligence has progressively gathered information about Libya’s potential of withholding weapons of mass destruction. Agents suspected that socialist leader Muammar Abu Minyar al-Qadhafi had developed nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons among others. Qadhafi was suspected of contributing to terrorism abroad throughout the 80’s and early 90’s until the United Nations stamped sanctions against him for his apparent involvement in the attack of Pan Am Fligh 103. By 2003 sanctions had been lifted, which intelligence experts suspect is a key contribution to the possible development of WMD’s in Libya. Ultimately, Libya surrendered their nuclear program and US officials returned it home for further investigation. According to a recent New York Times article, the weapons from Libya were linked to A.Q. Kahn, the mastermind behind Pakistani creation of nuclear weapons. As is the goal in all instances of intelligence issues, the CIA’s main objective should be to garner as much credible and useful intelligence they can get. Yet, the practice of “stove piping” by officials higher up in the ranks of Administration make collecting the most useful intelligence more difficult, as well as also making the CIA’s role in this occupation more ambiguous. For instance, as the Iraq War drags on the Bush Administration has already admitted the fact that their primary reason in invading the country for the occupation of WMD’s, turned out to be poorly observed intelligence. In the book “Bush at War” by Bob Woodward, there are several signs and connections made that infer that perhaps there were people in the Administration who utilized stove piping, as a means to invade Iraq. In the end, the covert secrecy of the CIA makes knowing their exact role quite difficult. In situations such as these that involve the hunt for nuclear weapons, there are several other organizations and agencies that collide with the investigation of the Central Intelligence Agency. Perhaps the most obvious comparison that can be made to the role of the CIA is the role of the FBI, particularly as far as domestic counterterrorism goes. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has also expanded their reach for gathering intelligence by establishing field offices around the country, in order to use Americans traveling abroad as a means of assembling sources. The CIA claims that the FBI has too little experience dealing with foreign assets of intelligence. Officials also say that now is not the right time for an organization to involve themselves in...