Comparison of the US and Foreign Counter Intelligence - Essay Example

?ASSIGNMENT The Counter Intelligence Corps was formulated for the purpose of the Cold war and subsequently for the Second World War after which the United States Army Intelligence Corps took over the control and functioning of the same in the year 1961. Six years later, the role and functions of the same were begun to be performed by the United States Intelligence and Security Command and various counter intelligent agents that were assigned by the government in order to carry out military and other operations. The Intelligence Bureau in India on the other hand, has been regarded as one of the oldest intelligence agencies in the world till date. Under the Ministry of Home Affairs in the year 1947, after India emerged from partition, it was recast as the Central Intelligence Bureau. The difference between the two agencies as per their origin is because in the American backdrop, the agency was formed to protect the country from spies emerging from the Cold War and then the Second World War; whereas in India on the other hand, the point was to control activities by Indian anarchists, formed by the British as early as 1909 in order to regulate and control the country in a better manner. In the United States of America, there is a very thin line between intelligence and law enforcement whereas in India the same principle is not followed. The intelligence agency in India falls under the ambit of two aspects – the Intelligence Bureau and the Research and Analysis Wing. In the U.S, as compared to India, much better technological innovations are present which help the country take care of the intelligence needs. The United States is much more capable of finding information as compared to India because of the sole reason that a lot more funding and money has been placed to educate people and train them perfectly to fit the bill. India has trained officials taking care of extracting information and finding out for the benefit of the nation however the country is not as well versed in the same as the United States of America is. Since both agencies hire agents they need to have continuous tests to test the credibility of the agents and to find out whether or not they are well suited to defend the country. Initially in India, the agents were trained by the KGB of Russia however now they have their own training programs which nonetheless are not very effective and thus does not put India at par with the counter intelligence arising from countries like the United States of America. In India and the United States alike, the work done in the agencies is delegated into different departments that take care of different fields like aviation, naval and other such responsibilities. In India the main task of the Intelligence Bureau is to execute tasks related to counter intelligence and counter terrorism attacks. After the 9/11 attacks in the United States of America, the country has become much more strong in the sense of countering terrorist attacks unlike in India where proper training and security is still required to protect the nations. In the U.S, the intelligence agency shares relations with foreign intelligence agencies like cooperation from United Kingdom’s Secret Intelligence Service, the Canadian Security Intelligence Services and other countries like Australia, Russia, India and even Pakistan. This enables the country to get help from analysts present in all these countries that it has allied itself with during a crisis or an attack in order to get information in a much faster manner. India on the other hand is allied with the United States counter intelligence agency as well as a few other countries like United Kingdom. The most effective instrument of the nation’s power is said to be executed from the Research and Wing Analysis and it has been involved in the security of India’s nuclear program. This unit is only answerable to the Prime Minister and not the Parliament of the country for its actions; the United States intelligence agency on the other hand is answerable to the President of the country or the White House through the Director of National Intelligence. A smooth delegated system of work helps to ensure smoother operations in the United States and India lags a little behind in this respect as compared to the developed nation. In India however, the country pleads that the counter intelligence agency available at the disposal of the country is not trained enough in order to carry out important tasks thus failing and making the country vulnerable to attacks from foreign nations. “"The shame lies in the fact that it (counter intelligence) could not prevent foreign penetration even into their senior ranks," said Anand K Verma, former chief of the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) of the Cabinet Secretariat. There was "a general belief" in the country that the influence of foreign intelligence organisations had reached deep into civil society.” Lately, India has been threatened by members of Pakistan in an attempt to uproot the nations by creating diversities among the people belonging to the northern regions living in the south; this penetration directly to the people from outside sources has been creating grave issues within the country. However, this is not so in the case of the United States where the intelligence agency is very strong and after the 9/11 attacks, nothing serious from a foreign nation has happened; attacks in fact have been countered by gaining information prior to their happenings and in this manner the country has been able to mitigate disasters. In Roy Godson’s renowned book Dirty Tricks or Trump Cards the counter intelligence of the United States of America has been portrayed with respect to its successes as well as its various failures throughout the years. He writes saying that the public usually has the impression of the counter intelligence crew of any nation playing dirty tricks and making the mob think what they want to; from the various conspiracies surrounding 9/1 to even earlier in the U.S during the rough times of the World War, the book depicts the considerable value and asset that the counter intelligence team has been rather than being a secretive agency or a burden on the government and the rest of the country. According to the Daily Telegram, "...if you want to understand how the whole thing works at Washington level, and to have an idea of what George W. Bush is hearing from his adviser, then reading this will prove quicker and cheaper than setting up your spy network." As compared to the same, few books have been written praising India’s counter intelligence issues because it must be understood that most of India’s fact finding relates to Pakistan and the country is so focused on trying to retain and extract information from the neighboring country that it often forgets to place its intelligence in other matters elsewhere. Rest assured however, the agency stays very hush, not allowing the common people to know what is going on unless the media picks up on something and sensationalizes it on the news for the country to watch. For a long time the U.S was at the receiving end of threats from Afghanistan and members of the Al-Quada however it was able to trace every mail and every important piece of information, as told to the public, and avoided every possible threat attack that it could have faced. Furthermore, popular literature and films have also portrayed the counter intelligence agencies in a sophisticated and interesting manner; the agents are expected to address cases of importance and report them with as much detail as possible in order to help the entire agency work in tandem with one another and carry out smooth operations with a view to protecting and preserving the nations while defending its Constitution. This motto is followed in both countries however the level of efficiency is higher in the United States of America as compared to the Indian nation. Reference List “'India's Counter Intelligence Both Success and Shame'.” Outlook India. http://news.outlookindia.com/items.aspx?artid=658522 (accessed September 14, 2012). “FAQs.” Central Intelligence Agency. https://www.cia.gov/about-cia/faqs/index.html#employeenumbers (accessed September 14, 2012). Godson, Roy. Dirty Tricks. Transaction Publishers, 1995. Read More