Historical Dictionary of United States Intelligence

(Martin Jones) #1
OPERATION ZAPATA.SeeBAYOF PIGS INVASION.

OPERATIONS ADVISORY GROUP. Established by President Ger-
ald R. Ford’sExecutive Order 11905, dated 18 February 1976, the
Operations Advisory Group of the National Security Council (NSC)
was set up to review and approve covert actionprograms. The group
replaced President Richard M. Nixon’s 40 Committee, which had
engaged in similar functions since 1969.

OVERSIGHT.SeeINTELLIGENCE OVERSIGHT.

– P –


PARAMILITARY OPERATIONS.See COVERTACTION.

PEARL HARBOR.The harbor in Hawaii, which is home base for the
U.S. Pacific fleet, has the dubious distinction of being the place
where Japanese military forces launched an attack on the United
States on 7 December 1941. The name of the base, moreover, has
come to be synonymous with surprise attack. Experts consider the
event the first major American intelligence failure that fueled the re-
organization of the national security apparatus after World War II
and sparked the creation of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
in 1947. As a result of the attack, the United States declared war on
Japan on 8 December 1941.
In a postmortem assessment, a special commission appointed by
President Franklin D. Rooseveltaccused the army and navy com-
manders at Hawaii of dereliction of duty in a report on 24 January


  1. However, a congressional committee, formed in September
    1945, absolved the army and navy commanders in a formal report on
    16 July 1946, but censured the War Department as well as the De-
    partment of the Navy.


PENKOVSKY, OLEG VLADIMIROVICH (1919–1963). Oleg V.
Penkovsky possibly was the most important spy for the United States
in the Soviet Unionduring the Cold War. ASoviet GRUofficer and
mole within the Soviet High Command, Penkovsky provided informa-
tion that revealed that Soviet missile capabilities were inferior to those

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