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By Glynn Cosker
In Homeland Security Editor

The CIA has entered the world of social media by launching its official Twitter feed and its official Facebook page.

CIA Director John Brennan outlined his agency’s leap into the world of tweets and likes in a press release: “By expanding to these platforms, CIA will be able to more directly engage with the public and provide information on CIA’s mission, history, and other developments. We have important insights to share, and we want to make sure that unclassified information about the Agency is more accessible to the American public that we serve, consistent with our national security mission.”

The inaugural tweet, sent out at just before 2 p.m. EDT, had a definite tongue in cheek tone:

Not exactly a spellbinding entrance into the Twittersphere, but it still resulted in more than 140,000 followers of @CIA within just three hours of its appearance. According to a CIA representative, the agency adopted its official moniker of @CIA only after filing a complaint with Twitter to gain access to the handle from someone who was using it to impersonate the agency.

The news was met with humor in some quarters. ““The CIA has followed people for years,” tweeted Husain Haqqani, former Pakistani ambassador to the United States. “Now tweeple (sic) have a chance to follow @CIA.”

In the entertainment world, Ellen DeGeneres struck a tone that many others followed:

Meanwhile, over in Facebook world, the CIA posted a poignant post in which they unfortunately forgot to end their sentence with the appropriate punctuation mark:

“Today we honor the brave Americans who fought and served on this day in history. Did you know former OSSer Virginia Hall played an important role in support D-Day.”

Early teething problems aside, both the Twitter and Facebook accounts promised upcoming “photos, reflections on intelligence history, and fun facts from the CIA World Factbook.”

By Robin L. Thompson, DM
Faculty Member, Intelligence Studies Program at American Military University

The many political games and power plays occurring throughout the world on a daily basis are not always as they appear. Members of the intelligence community (IC) must proactively seek out clues and dig deeper to fully comprehend what is really happening behind the scenes.

By Robin L. Thompson, DM
Faculty Member, Intelligence Studies Program at American Military University

The many political games and power plays occurring throughout the world on a daily basis are not always as they appear. Members of the intelligence community (IC) must proactively seek out clues and dig deeper to fully comprehend what is really happening behind the scenes.

By Kerry Givens

The 2008 U.S National Security Strategy outlines the U.S objective to strengthen alliances and build new partnerships to defeat global terrorism and prevent attacks against us, our allies, and our friends; prevent our enemies from threatening us, our allies, and our friends with weapons of mass destruction (WMD); work with others to defuse regional conflicts, including conflict intervention; and transform national security institutions to face the challenges of the 21st century(2008 National Defense Strategy).

By James Green, Jr.

Have you ever wondered how the President and senior policymakers arrive at national security decisions? How our military forces maneuver through the battle spaces and know exactly where enemy forces are? What gives our first responders and other emergency personnel an advantage during natural or man-made disasters?

By William Tucker

The Associated Press, claiming an exclusive, is reporting that the CIA disrupted another airline bombing plot that was supposed to be an improvement upon the failed attempt over Detroit in 2009. Like the previous attempt, this bomb was constructed to be worn in the carriers underwear, however the design was improved and reportedly did not contain any metal parts.

By William Tucker

Last year, the Director of National Intelligence conducted a study on the efficiency of the Defense Intelligence Agency and found several areas that were in need of improvement. Unfortunately, the study was classified and the scope of the problems, and the problem areas, are not known in full detail. Press reports have stated that one area for improvement was expanding the scope of the DIA beyond tactical, battlefield intelligence.

By William Tucker

CIA head David Petraeus held unscheduled talks with Turkish PM Erdogan in Turkey today. While Iran and Kurdish rebels were certainly discussed, the situation in Syria was reportedly the dominate topic. In Egypt, the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, Lt. Gen. Ronald Burgess, is in Cairo for a two day visit. As expected, the topic du jour is Syria.