30 Alphabet Soup and American Law Enforcement
Watching movies, and reading,
one sees the following acronyms (두문자어; sometimes called "alphabet soup") commonly used.
It's a good idea to know them before going to the U.S.!
ATF Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
Responsible for illegal manufacture
transportation or sales of alcohol, tobacco, firearms (guns, other weapons) and explosives.
CDC Center for Disease Control
Responsible for protecting public
health from contagious diseases.
CIA Central Intelligence Agency
Responsible for protecting the
security of the United States from all foreign threats. This involves collecting information, analyzing that
information and conducting operations. Theoretically prohibited from operations
in the United States. Common euphemism: "Christians in Action" (Euphemism:
The act or example of substituting a mild, indirect or vague term for one considered harsh, blunt or offensive.)
DEA Drug Enforcement Agency
Responsible for policing illegal
drug manufacturing, transportation, sales and use in the United States.
DIA Defense Intelligence Agency
Umbrella organization for the
intelligence organizations within each of major branches of the armed services, Army,
Air Force, Navy
FBI Federal Bureau of Investigation
Responsible for enforcing American
federal (national) laws like murder, kidnapping and any crime that crosses state borders
(i.e. crimes that involve two or more of the 50 states).
FEMA Federal Emergency Management Agency
Responsible for managing national
emergencies like major floods, tornados, and the results of terrorist attacks.
INS Immigration and Nationalization Service
Responsible for foreigners coming
to and living in the United States.
NSA National
Security Agency
Responsible for information assurance
including solutions, products and services for information infrastruction critical to national interest, and, SIGINT or signals
intelligence which allows for effective, unified collection and organization of all foreign signals in accordance with the
objects, requirements and priorities of the CIA with the advice of the National Foreign Intelligence Board. Euphemisms: "No
Such Agency, and The Puzzle Palace."
NSC National Security Council
Chaired by the President and
with the Secretaries of State and Defense as its key members, this organization is the central foreign policy coordination
system. Since its founding in 1947, every president has tailored this organization to fit his own personal management
system. President Truman's NSC for example, was dominated by the State Department, during the time of President Eisenhower,
this organization was dominated by military intelligence advisors.
NRO National Reconnaissance Organization
Responsible for the American spy satellites and monitoring of all computers
and telephone lines in the world.
U.S. Coast Guard
Police of the seas, oceans and lakes.
U.S. Department of Homeland Security:
New umbrella organization that
is responsible for protecting the United States from terrorists. Coordinates with CIA, DIA, FBI, NRO
Discussion questions:
You are now living in New York.
a. Someone is selling automatic weapons (AK 47s, M16s, Uzis.) in front
of your apartment building. What would you do?
b. A guy named Abdul asks you to take a package to the airport and leave
it there for his friend. What would you do?
c. The guy in the apartment next to you keeps offering to sell you cocaine. What would you do?
d. You’re driving next to an American Air Force base and you see
a suspicious person taking photos of the air craft coming and going. What would
you do?
e. The guy in the apartment next to you is distilling his own whiskey. He offers to sell you a bottle. What
would you do?
f. You notice watching a weather satellite that a super storm is about
to cause huge floods in your low lying neighborhood. Unfortunately, only you
know about it. What would you do?
g. You’re home at night and you hear someone in the next apartment
banging on the wall, saying: “I’ve been kidnapped.” What would you do?
h. You’re a shop keeper and a mafia guy comes by and says he wants
protection money. What would you do?
i. You work cleaning offices in the pentagon. Someone offers you a million dollars to steal some secret papers.
What would you do?
j. It’s the middle of the night, and someone who says he’s
from the FBI knocks on your door. He says he wants to do surveillance on the
people in the apartment next to you from your apartment. He is very polite and
wearing a suit. He asks permission
to use your apartment for a week. What do you do?
k. A mafia guy threatens to kill you.
What do you do?
l. Someone steals your car. What
do you do?
m. The FBI arrests you and says you are a terrorist. What do you do?
n. The apartment next to you is full of illegal aliens who are rented out
for
slave labor. What do you do?
o. You are a North Korean spy and you want to quit your job. What do you do?
p. The police want to use you as a confidential informant (C.I. “spy”)
at your job.
What do you do?
q. A guy that is shaking and quivering and has sores all over his body
tries to kiss you.
r. You see a boat dropping off big packages on a beach every night. Who
do you call?
s. There’s a big flood and you lose everything. Who do you call?
t. A friend of yours sends you an e-mail talking about terrorists, explosives,
Bin Laden and missiles. Who do you think is going to read your mail?
