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The CIA is one of the American spy agencies. They are perhaps the most well known. Why do I say that they are the most well known, aren't they the only one? Heck no there are plenty of others. Some believe that there are at least 16 different agencies charged with spying. It is said that many of them are attached to other departments of our government and thus are afforded quite a bit of cover. So where and who are these secret spy agencies? Here is a list of what some people think are the spy agencies in this country and/or what department they are located in:

Please keep in mind that the above departments and agencies are only the ones that we know about. Some people have estimated that there are far more spy agencies in this country. I can't help but think that every agency would want their own spy department because of the prestige involved. You can almost hear the conversations now between different agency heads. "Hi Joe, we just busted a terrorist outfit, they were planning on flooding the U.S. with foreign hot dogs", "Oh that's nothing Charlie, my spy agency caught several people altering their time cards." I don't mean to sound so dismissive of some of these agencies, but I can't help it. It seems to me that there are just too many of them and the U.S. taxpayer is footing the bill for something that is just not necessary. You would think that there should be three spy agencies at the very most, these might be the CIA, FBI and a military agency that would be in charge of intelligence for all the armed forces. It seems to me that having an intelligence agency in each branch of the armed forces is sheer duplication.

Supposedly the person who serves in the post of the Director of National Intelligence or DNI is the person who is the head of the entire intelligence community. One of his functions is to advise the president in matters of intelligence. Before this person can be appointed, the Senate must approve. He or she also advisors the Secretary of Defense. The position is currently filled by John D. Negroponte, who is now one of the most powerful men in the world. He was the officer in charge for Vietnam at the National Security Council during the Vietnam War and we all know how that turned out. He was sent to Honduras from 1981 - 1985 and a year later the regime was overthrown in that country and many people believe that he was responsible. He served in several different positions in the government over the years and was mostly involved with intelligence matters. He served as the Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental Scientific Affairs from 1985 to 1987, but some think that this was just a cover. From 1987 to 1989 he served as Deputy Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs and worked with Colin Powell. He then became the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico and served from 1989 to 1993. In a strange coincidence, in 1989 Mexico decided to liberalize its banking system. He then moved on to become the Ambassador to the Philippines from 1993 to 1996. He left the government sector in 1997 and became the Executive Vice President for Global Markets for the McGraw-Hill Companies. He came back to government in 2001 and was the UN Ambassador to Iraq and again we all know what happened there. This guy seems to be the fix it man for many of our international problems.

Besides the list that I offered above, many suspect that other agencies that are not listed above, have t heir own spy departments. Some of these are:

Again this list is only the tip of the iceberg, according to some sources. It seems that spying in this country has become a huge business. One just doesn't suspect that all this is going on. Many people think of countries spying they think of special agencies that are set up to watch foreign nationals or agencies, that have headquarters in foreign lands with paid operatives watching what is going on with things like defense technology, arms sales and drugs. Yes this part is true, but spying on Americans has taken a big leap in the last few years with thousands of people being hired by agencies to monitor our phone calls, watch our moves by satellite and read our email. Spying on Americans by Americans has indeed become commonplace. This is not only happening here. If we look at places like Great Britain, we notice that cameras have appeared everywhere. The people are told not to worry they were installed for their protection, but why are they really there? They have several uses, first they make it easy to tell where a person is at any particular time. Secondly there is no denying that they make the job of law enforcement easier, because you can catch a criminal act on video many times. But is the fact that they make it easier for law enforcemen, t a strong enough fact to take away the privacy of the individual? Why don't they just fit every citizen with a leg band and then they can track them, that would make it even easier for law enforcement. I know that sounds ridiculous, but I am just illustrating a point here, in essence isn't hat what we are almost doing? They say that these films will never be used in civil court cases, like in divorce matters.

One professor stated that if liberty is eroded slowly, people will get used to it. He went on to say that however, a boiling point may be reached. The same professor stated when asked why Americans are so passive about surveillance, that is because there hasn't been a huge disaster yet. He went on to say that until this happens people will continue to trust the government. He stated that policies must be set in the use of surveillance and the government must be held responsible and shouldn't be given carte blanche in these matters.

In an interesting case where photographs were shown as evidence, divorce evidence, the husband alleged that his wife had hired a small company of actors and one had made himself up to look like him and performed in front of the camera. The husband wore glasses that had huge, heavy frames and he claimed that the actor had gotten the same frame for his performance. I only tell you about this to show that even photos can falsify evidence. Cameras are not fool proof and if someone wants to frame you, they just might be able to do it using street camera photos as evidence. Now it is bad enough that cameras are everywhere, but there is something called an E-Z pass that I am sure many of you are familiar with. It is usually a small box like device with a computer chip and battery inside that gives off a particular signal and you can use it to pay tolls on roads. The money is deducted from your prepaid account or credit card account. The court has just ruled that this can be used as evidence in court cases. So it turns out that what you thought was an easy way to pay tolls is also a device that is tracking your every movement. Some say that it can be tracked by special equipment where ever you go, not just through toll gates.

Now about that cell phone. Carrying a cell phone that is on, is just like carrying a tracer chip. Every movement you make can be traced. Cell phone are great because they are co convenient, but like everything else, their use can be perverted. Most of us have absolutely nothing to hide, but that is not the point here. The point is that you should be able to go and do anything you want, that is legal, without someone watching your every move. It is becoming harder and harder to do. As technology advances, it erodes our privacy. Do you have cable tv? If you do, it is probably possible for someone to know exactly what you are looking at, at any given moment. The same with the internet. The use of Proxy software, that is software that is supposed to hide your identity when you browse the internet, is on the increase, but even with this, you leave a trail and if anyone with a subpoena wanted to know what sites you looked at, they could get the records from the proxy site that you went through. So proxy browsing is not as safe as you think.

Human nature can not be denied. People in power want to know everything that is going on and it is laws that keep them in check. In this country the laws are being pushed aside in the name of protection from terrorism. The question is, is that why it is really being done or is it a way to know more about what each of us is doing and where we are at any given time? It reminds me of the case for putting in computers years ago. We were told that it would eliminate much of the paperwork being used by companies. Just the opposite happened. The companies now had a device to store data so that increased the paperwork to get more information on people. As computer memory increased, more information from people was required. It is a sort of catch 22. Will all this spying ever stop or will it get worse? With the advent of almost invisible technology it is bound to increase, unless we do something about it by pushing laws to prevent it's scatter gun use on us.