Political Science

Contrary to what is depicted in the movies and spy novels, the American intelligence community is more than just the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). In reality, it consists of 16 elements or agencies that include the CIA and the departments of Defense, Energy, Homeland Security, Justice, State, and the Treasury.  Each of these departments has their own intelligence agencies, and they answer to their respective immediate superiors yet they coordinate with one another on a regular basis. Intelligence sharing is not only internal but external as well. The United States also coordinates with its counterparts from allied countries through special relationships and treaties.

Theoretically, these agencies exchange or share whatever information they have obtained as part of an effort to address national security concerns. For instance, the CIA, Departments of Homeland Security (DHS), and Justice, through the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), exchange information on foreign nationals living in the United States as part of measures taken to prevent potential terrorist attacks. It is for this reason that intelligence agencies were reorganized following the end of World War II and streamlined in terms of its organization for efficiency (Richelson, 1995).

The intelligence products are the result of the processing of information gathered by operatives in the field, regardless of the method or manner in which it was acquired. These are passed on to the intelligence branch made up of analysts and other technical specialists who  process  the information into something meaningful in the form of intelligence reports.  These reports are then given to the senior leadership whose task is to brief the national command authorities on national security matters (Richelson, 1995).

Counter-Intelligence deals with foreign intelligence agents working in their country, and their task is to prevent them from getting information that they would use to benefit their governments. This can be done though surveillance, apprehension of these foreign agents  which can either lead to imprisonment, deportation or what is called  flipping  or  turning  where the agent is made to work for the host government and in come cases, the agent concerned becomes a double or even triple agent and even recruit agents from their foreign enemy counterparts in order to penetrate their own security.  The purpose of counterintelligence is to protect the intelligence communities own personnel from being compromised or  burned,  as well as protecting their facilities and their operations which means guarding against  penetration  through an elaborate process of screening and monitoring of its personnel (Richelson, 1995).

In conclusion, intelligence services are more than just espionage. They possess a vast network of people, facilities, and resources employed to see to the security of the nation.