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Intelligence The Success Of U.S. Term Paper

Intelligence

The Success of U.S. Intelligence in the Cuban Missile Crisis

intelligence community played a significant role in the Cuban Missile Crisis. In fact, the intelligence agencies in the United States, the Soviet Union, and Cuba all played significant roles in the beginnings, management, and ultimate resolution of the crisis ("Intelligence and the Cuban Missile Crisis").

In the United States, the success of the intelligence community during the Cuban Missile Crisis can be attributed to three significant factors. First, the U.S. intelligence community, despite being relatively young, was very empirically oriented. In other words, fears of Soviet influence in Cuba did not instigate action in the U.S. until hard evidence was made available to the intelligence community. Specifically, this evidence came in the form of photographs of Soviet missile sites under construction in Cuba from the U2 spy plane ("Intelligence in the Cuban Missile Crisis").

In addition to a focus on actual evidence and not wanton speculation, U.S. intelligence agencies were also quite able to adapt quickly to the changing conditions and circumstances of the Cuban Missile Crisis as it rapidly evolved. This flexibility gave U.S. intelligence agencies an advantage over their Soviet counterparts, who were unable to demonstrate a similar capacity for rapid and effective responses to the circumstances of the crisis ("Intelligence in the Cuban Missile Crisis"). Finally, and most surprisingly, the U.S. intelligence community retained a remarkable ability to take actions that were not heavily influenced by the political climate of the nation. Rather than being influenced by the political platforms of politicians, the intelligence community focused on the matter at hand, to great effect ("Intelligence in the Cuban Missile Crisis"). These three factors were most influential in the successful actions of the U.S. intelligence community during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Works Cited

Intelligence and the Cuban Missile Crisis." The Watson Institute for International Studies. 1998. 15 Oct. 2007 http://www.watsoninstitute.org/pub_detail.cfm?id=139.

Intelligence in the Cuban Missile Crisis." Everything2. 23 Feb. 2006. 15 Oct. 2007 http://everything2.com/index.pl-node_id=17884497.

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