The CIA's Current Battle
How does the CIA today differ from the CIA ten years ago?
Ten years ago, the CIA was still focused more on Russia. It had spent decades spying on the Soviets. The CIA was only beginning to think of terrorists as targets, and it was sort of searching for a mission. Today, the CIA is mainly focused on terrorists, because that is our biggest threat. And now, the CIA knows very much what their mission is, which is to stop the next attack.
What is the President's involvement with the CIA?
Every morning, the President meets with the National Director of Intelligence, and also reads the President's Daily Brief, which is prepared by the CIA. They constantly meet up with CIA officials to plan strategy, to develop foreign policy, and to look at threats. Bush gets the details of particular plots, and of particular terrorists. He remembers the names of terrorists. And so, especially after 9/11, the CIA is incredibly important to the President.
Has the CIA improved since the 9-11 attacks?
The CIA has improved tremendously since the 9/11 attacks, partly because of additional funding, more employees, a better focus, and partly because so many people are volunteering. Despite all the criticism we see in the media of the CIA, the CIA can only accept a very small percentage of all the job applications that are received. Today, the CIA is better than ever at doing it's job.
What countries does the CIA spy on in today's world?
The CIA theoretically will spy on any country in the world besides Great Britain, Australia and Canada, but in practice it doesn't spy on some obscure country that doesn't pose a threat, and that doesn't really have anything to do with international security. It focuses primarily on the countries that you would expect, certainly the Russians, Middle Eastern countries, North Korea, Iran, any country that has nuclear weapons or might have nuclear weapons. Those are the main targets.
