First Up: CIA Agent Revealed

Learning Activity

Aired September 30, 2003

TODAY'S SHOW


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CIA operative Valerie Plame's cover was blown when her name appeared in a July newspaper column. Plame's husband blames the disclosure on the Bush administration, but the White House denies any involvement. The CIA has asked the Justice Department to investigate the leak. Learn about the history of intelligence gathering in the U.S.

Invite students to share their impressions of the CIA and its activities. Ask: What is the CIA? What kinds of activities do you think the CIA carries out? Under which branch of government does the CIA operate? What do you think it means to say that the CIA is an "independent government agency"?

Refer student groups to their textbooks and to the CIA's Homepage for Kids (http://www.cia.gov/cia/ciakids/index.shtml) to find out more about the history of intelligence in the U.S. and the CIA, including the agency's current mission and responsibilities. Assign each group one of the following conflicts: Revolutionary War, Civil War, World War II, Cold War. Direct each group to report on intelligence gathering in that conflict. Challenge groups to correctly use at least five of the terms below as they make their presentations.

• intelligence

• the intelligence cycle

• National Security Council

• executive oversight

• congressional oversight

• intelligence community

• covert operation

• covert actions

• foreign policy

• foreign threats

• counterintelligence

Correlated Standards

The National Standards for Civics and Government

III. HOW DOES THE GOVERNMENT ESTABLISHED BY THE CONSTITUTION EMBODY THE PURPOSES, VALUES, AND PRINCIPLES OF AMERICAN DEMOCRACY?

B. How is the national government organized and what does it do?

1. The institutions of the national government. Students should be able to evaluate, take, and defend positions on issues regarding the purposes, organization, and functions of the institutions of the national government. To achieve this standard, students should be able to describe the purposes, organization, and functions of the three branches of the national government specifically the executive, including its most prominent agencies, e.g., Intelligence.

The National Standards for Civics and Government (http://www.civiced.org/912erica.htm) are published by the Center for Civic Education (http://www.civiced.org/index.html)

The National Standards for History

Era 3: Standard 1C - The Revolutionary War

The student understands the factors affecting the course of the war and contributing to the American victory.

Era 5: Standard 2B - The Civil War

The student understands the social experience of the war on the battlefield and homefront.

Era 8: Standard 3 - World War II

The student understands the character of the war at home and abroad, and its reshaping of the U.S. role in world affairs.

The National Standards for History (http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/nchs/standards/) are published by the National Center for History in the Schools (http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/nchs/).

Related Links

CNN.com: Administration vows cooperation in probe of intelligence leak (http://cnnstudentnews.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/09/29/wilson.cia/index.html)

CIA Homepage for Kids (http://www.cia.gov/cia/ciakids/index.shtml)

Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982 (http://foi.missouri.edu/bushinfopolicies/protection.html)

Keywords

Central Intelligence Agency, National Security Council, Valerie Plame, Joe Wilson


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