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Mission

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is an independent US Government agency responsible for providing national security intelligence to senior US policymakers.

For more on the Agency's mission, visit our Strategic Intent.

Central Intelligence Agency
The Work of a Nation. The Center of Intelligence

CIA

CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY (flash movie)

A Look Back …Creating the CIA: A New Instrument of Government

At the beginning of the Cold War, looking back to the lessons of Pearl Harbor, Congress and President Harry S. Truman approved the creation of a peacetime intelligence service. This new organization, deliberately fashioned to be independent of all the Cabinet departments and military services, was to provide senior U.S. policymakers with judgments on political and military issues and coordinate clandestine activities overseas. Washington thus created an agency dedicated to collecting and analyzing the secrets of actual or potential adversaries. more>

September 19 - CIA’s Hayden Lauds Marine General’s Contributions.

September 17 - Posted Studies in Intelligence, Vol. 52, No. 3.

September 16 - Director's Remarks at the Los Angeles World Affairs Council.

September 12 - Director's Remarks at the DNI Open Source Conference 2008.

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Showcase

Take a step inside the CIA through our Headquarters Tour. Stroll down the CIA Museum corridor to see some of our artifacts. And learn about the CIA's history in our Interactive Timeline.