Postby Twisted_Logic » Mon Dec 03, 2007 11:14 am
Which intelligence gathering organization do you think is the most effective? My top 5 are
1)MOSSAD of Israel
“Location: Israel
Israel's extremely active intelligence agency, Mossad, is responsible for intelligence collection, counter-terrorism and various covert operations. Its director reports directly to the head of state, the Prime Minister. Mossad is a civilian service, and does not use military ranks, although most of its staff have served in the Israeli defense forces as part of the country's compulsory draft system. Mossad's most notorious wing is the "Special Operations Division" or "Metsada," as it's also known. The Metsada has been involved in several assassinations, paramilitary operations, sabotage, and psychological warfare.
Claim to fame: In 1960, the Mossad discovered that Adolf Eichmann, a notorious Nazi war criminal, was living in Argentina under the name of Ricardo Klement. He was captured by a team of Mossad agents and smuggled in to Israel where he was tried and executed.”
2)CIA
“Location: United States
Founded in 1947, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has three stated functions: 1) Obtaining and analyzing information about foreigners; 2) Propaganda and public relations; and, 3) Covert operations at the direction of the president. The CIA
was given enormous leeway to operate during the Cold War, as the American government felt that such free reign was necessary to successfully combat the USSR's agency, the KGB. As a result, the CIA was engaged in many coups and assassination attempts overseas, both successful (Chile, Congo) and unsuccessful (Cuba).
Claim to fame: The Bay of PIGS invasion may be more notorious, but Project BLUEBIRD is more shocking. From 1951 to 1953, the CIA conducted mind-control experiments in order to explore the creation of new identities, multiple personalities and false memories. The research entailed placing brain electrodes in people and controlling their behavior with remote transmitters, administering daily dosages of LSD-25 to children for extended periods of time, and using “electroconvulsive therapy to erase memories.
3)ISI
“Location: Pakistan
The weak performance in the sharing of intelligence between the army, navy and air force during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947 led to the creation of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) by the Pakistani government in 1948. Since then, the agency's influence has waxed and waned according to the whims/powers of Pakistani leaders. Since 9/11, ISI has actively worked with the CIA in engaging in counter-terrorism against both Al-Qaeda, Taliban militants and tribal/sectarian terrorists in Pakistan (though they have been somewhat stifled by domestic factors). The ISI is a deceptively active and powerful agency and is known for operating in an "invisible" fashion.
Claim to fame: In 1980, the ISI intercepted a plot to assassinate the President of Pakistan, General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, during a national parade. The plotters, which included high-ranking military officials, planned to launch a bloody coup to depose the government and install an extreme Islamic government in its place. The ISI arrested the would-be assassins and their backers prior to the date of the planned assassination.” Also the tactic of defeat of the USSR is the brainchild of the ISI. The establishment of the Pakistani nuclear industry and the clandestine procurement of sensitive technology from Europe and America, and the close-protection of the existence of the Pakistani nuclear facilities throughout the 70s and 80s
4)MI6
“Location: United Kingdom
MI6 or, as it is known formally, the Secret Intelligence Service, was created just prior to World War I primarily to keep a close eye on the activities of the Imperial German government. Since then, MI6 has been heavily engaged during the major conflicts of the 20th and 21st centuries. Even before the 9/11 attacks, MI6 actively collaborated with their American counterparts in order to share intelligence and carry out particularly dicey covert ops. The MI6, in conjunction with the CIA, effected the toppling of several regimes, most notoriously in the Congo in 1961 and Iran in 1953.
Claim to fame: Aside from the time Bond bedded ##### Galore, MI6's most successful solo mission in recent years was the quelling the hostage-taking of Westerners in Lebanon in the 1980s. Specifically, MI6 agents triggered an internal conflict between Lebanese paramilitary groups, effectively distracting them from further hostage-taking.”
5)DGSE
“Location: France
The Direction Générale de la Sécurité Extérieure (DGSE) was formed only recently, replacing the older Service de Documentation Extérieure et de Contre-Espionnage (SDECE) in 1982, and was quickly made responsible for gathering intelligence, as well as preventative work detecting and finding external espionage activities directed against French interests. The agency has generally kept a low profile, but that was not the case with 1985's Greenpeace protests against French nuclear testing, which involved the bombing of the Greenpeace fleet. New Zealand law enforcements uncovered the plot and arrested two DGSE agents who plead guilty to manslaughter in the death of a journalist who drowned in the incident.
Claim to fame: The DGSE quickly proved its worth in the early 1980s, when they revealed a Soviet spy network that allowed the USSR to gather info about important Western technical advances without the knowledge of Western intelligence agencies. It's still the most extensive technological spy network ever uncovered in Europe and the United States.”