The principal value of intelligence is to provide reliable information to policymakers on a rival's true plans and intentions. The CIA's ability to provide such a decision advantage to U.S. policymakers depends on its ability to acquire reliable information from clandestine sources, or spies.

While there's no doubt that good...

It is a deeply shared feeling within the ranks of the CIA that the secret nature of intelligence work, with the extraordinary powers that accompany it, demands officers who possess the highest standards of morality and ethical conduct. It requires people who can reliably separate right and wrong in the...