Bureau of Intelligence and Research
Encyclopedia
Office of Strategic Services
The Office of Strategic Services was a United States intelligence agency formed during World War II. It was the wartime intelligence agency, and it was a predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency...
(1942-1945), it was transferred to the State Department at the end of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. The Bureau of Intelligence and Research is part of the United States Intelligence Community
United States Intelligence Community
The United States Intelligence Community is a cooperative federation of 16 separate United States government agencies that work separately and together to conduct intelligence activities considered necessary for the conduct of foreign relations and the protection of the national security of the...
, of which there are 16 branches. The current number of employees and its budget is classified. The Bureau is headed by the Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research
Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research
The Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research is the head of the Bureau of Intelligence and Research within the United States Department of State. Before 1986, the head of INR was the Director of the Bureau of Intelligence and Research...
.
In July 2004, the United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
The United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence is dedicated to overseeing the United States Intelligence Community—the agencies and bureaus of the federal government of the United States who provide information and analysis for leaders of the executive and legislative branches. The...
issued a scathing report on prewar intelligence on Iraq
Senate Report of Pre-war Intelligence on Iraq
The Senate Report on Iraqi WMD Intelligence was the report by the United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence concerning the U.S. intelligence community's assessments of Iraq during the time leading up to the 2003 U.S. invasion...
. INR was spared the poor performance review that most other intelligence agencies received, and the panel specifically endorsed the dissent that INR inserted into the National Intelligence Estimate
National Intelligence Estimate
National Intelligence Estimates are United States federal government documents that are the authoritative assessment of the Director of National Intelligence on intelligence related to a particular national security issue...
of 2002. The bureau is being studied as a positive example, as Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
debates how to best reform U.S. intelligence agencies in the wake of the 2003 invasion of Iraq
2003 invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq , was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations...
.
In May 2004, the National Security Archive
National Security Archive
The National Security Archive is a 501 non-governmental, non-profit research and archival institution located in the George Washington University in Washington, D.C.. Founded in 1985 by Scott Armstrong, it archives and publishes declassified U.S. government files concerning selected topics of US...
released a secretive 1969 report on the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
commissioned by the White House
Executive Office of the President of the United States
The Executive Office of the President consists of the immediate staff of the President of the United States, as well as multiple levels of support staff reporting to the President. The EOP is headed by the White House Chief of Staff, currently William M. Daley...
and executed by INR, then led by Thomas Hughes. Highly critical of the current strategy in Vietnam and highly revealing of the political atmosphere in the White House itself, this declassified document has recently highlighted parallels between the situation in Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
at the time and the current war in Iraq.
In June 2009, the FBI arrested former INR employee Walter Kendall Myers on charges of serving as an illegal agent of the Cuban government for nearly 30 years and conspiring to provide classified U.S. information to the Cuban government. Myers’ arrest was the culmination of a 3-year joint FBI/Department of State Diplomatic Security investigation. Myers worked in the INR from 2000 until October 2007.
On October 23, 2009, President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
nominated Philip S. Goldberg to be the Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research; his nomination was confirmed by the Senate on February 9, 2010.
External links
- Bureau of Intelligence and Research—the official site
- Department of State: Bureau of Intelligence and Research—Intelligence Community profile
- The Office of Strategic Services: America's First Intelligence Agency—A brief official history on the Central Intelligence Agency's Web site.
- Intelligence and Vietnam: The INR's Secret Report on the Vietnam War commissioned in 1969