What's wrong with the CIA????

[DaShi]

Alright. We believe you. You're safe. For now. :shiftyeyes:

[nato]

This is just a casual guess, but I think whats wrong with the CIA is that we Americans aren't usually very good at espionage stuff. I think its just not something that we have a national talent for. When we try to do sneaky stuff, lots of time we just bungle it. We end up with smooth operations like Watergate. Oops.

We should stick to things we're good at, like aviation or naval stuff. We should leave the spy stuff to people who can do it without tripping over their own feet.

Like I said, its just a feeling I have. Who knows how many things that went right that I've never heard of, because they went right.

[The Mad Monk]

I'd have to agree -- our counterintelligence, in particular, has always leaked like a sieve.

[Kirnwaffen]

Pekka, could you kindly give us a link to your source, or tell us what it is?

[Pekka]

It's on several internet magazines, and they are all in Finnish.

[Kirnwaffen]

Do you know where they're getting their information? I'll concede that the CIA is wrong about military age, but the figures they give in the factbook hardly support what these magazines are saying.

[Pekka]

I'm not sure if they refer to factbook.. but even if they do, in any case, they should have it right. The error is as horrible as writing someones country name wrong. By this I mean, it is as easy to get it right, and difficult to get wrong, if you are professional and do what your job is. I'll check out the articles again..

And I'm not really trying to bash the US here. Or the CIA in general. Just the dudes who are in responsible of our country. They really do suck at their work. Claiming, that we recruit underaged kids into our military is accusation, and a serious one. I'd suppose if you write that down and think about it, you'd double and triple check it from various of sources before making that accusation. But I guess it was too much of a job.

[Pekka]

Reading it through again, it refers to factbook. But from this year, so it's supposed to be new. They also say, that they didn't answer any queries that wanted to know why they don't correct the information.

So 'factbook' my ass.

[PLATO]

I would imagine that their best people are probably occupied somewhere else. I would also imagine that no one really puts to much effort in analyzing troop strength of friendly countries in non-conflict areas. I would hope that their time is better spent trying to figure out what is happening with the trouble areas of the world. As an American...Sorry for the error, but does it really matter?

[Pekka]

Yes I'm sure the best people are doing something else. And yes I'm sure, that even the people who are responsible for this are also better than this, but they clearly didn't put the effort.. OR their resources are really bad. But I think it is reasonable to demand, not me, but you, you can demand that they get these things right!
The error is same as printing out maps and put the cities in wrong places.
Our defense department puts out official reports, you know them if you just read them. Where do you get facts, when you figure this out? YOu read the reports, right? Besides, they can ask these and this information will be given, it's no secret. It's like saying we have professional army, when in reality it's conscript.

Also, I'd like to point out, that we don't recruit. It's conscript. You can't enter if you want to. You are conscripted. You are conscripted when you are of certain age. And then you go through this board, they interview you and get more information and where you'd like to serve and where your skills are seen as needed, or your potential is decided. You get this notification automatically 'be here then and then' and it is all based on age. So, when you enter, you have to be at least 18, there is no other options. You can volunteer, no matter you're not getting in. No matter if you parents say it's ok, you just can't get in. It's that simple. So I don't know where this info is coming from. Some times ago, we had a system where you could volunteer earlier, at the age of 17 if you turn 18 when you serve, and you had to have parents OK. But now it's not even that. You need to be over 18 to enter the first day. Simple. No room for misunderstandings. And to claim otherwise is just stupid.
THat's my beef. How CAN they get this wrong? I mean they don't let stupid people in the CIA, and the people who did this are most likely not stupid. So how did this happen?

And to me it matters. Sure we are insignificant country to many, and majority don't even know we exist. But when there's some info about us and it's incorrect, I tend to notice it. The mistake is not HORRIBLE, but it's an easy mistake.... so that's why it bothers me.

[PLATO]

I think you are right to be bothered. Chances are that someone simply didn't update an old report as resources were allocated elsewhere. Unfortunately, old reports tend to hang around at CIA in lieu of any current work being done. Someone is probably assigned to regular updates and they may have been pulled to other activity. I can say with virtual certainty that no one meant to offend your country.

[Pekka]

plato, I know that . Sure it has to be honest mistake. And mistakes do happen.

It's just that.. you know.. it bothers when big and famous things get you wrong.. you know? It's like if you were here and watched the news and saw your map and there was mexico included to you and capital was named 'Voshington' and it was located where NY is? I know that would bother you . You might find it amusing at first, but if you knew, that there are millions of people who can see this, and they would actually believe it is true.. that would bother you. You know? It's ok, I just think they should be more careful even with us little ones who are friendlies.. because it's good manners to pay little attention. This makes me feel like no one cares .