Practice Questions for your CIA exam!
U.S. intelligence missed Pakistan’s nukes, India’s nukes, the Soviets’ nukes, North Korea’s nukes, Iraq’s no nukes, the Soviet collapse, the Cuban missile crises, the Holocaust, Tet Offensive, Iraq invading Kuwait, Pearl Harbor, 9/11, Sudan’s Aspirin factory, and Osama’s and Mullah Omar’s whereabouts. Other than these, U.S. intel is the best (except for the Mossad, Britain’s MI6, Russia’s SVR, Canada’s CSIS, etc.) and there’s nothing more intellectually challenging and rewarding than a career as an intelligence analyst. To qualify for employment in this demanding field, critical thinking is important. Analytical skill is essential. You must be able to look at seemingly unrelated bits and pieces of complicated facts and data points and consistently connect the dots, then methodically disconnect them.
To give you an idea of what to expect, and to see if you possess the amazing skills required, try the sample test questions below and see if you qualify to be a CIA analyst!
1. The 2007 National Intelligence Estimate says ignore the 2005 National Intelligence Estimate. It was wrong. The 2005 NIE judged with high confidence that Iran had a nuclear weapons program. The 2007 NIE judges with high confidence Iran does not have a nuclear weapons program — or the program was mothballed in 2003 and it took 16 agencies only over four years to find out. In 2003, the U.S. was bombing Iran’s neighbor, Iraq, believing Iraq possessed WMDs, based on the slam-dunk 2002 NIE. Given these facts, which of the following is the most likely reason behind the timing of Iran’s suspending its nuclear program:
A. The Iranian mullahs did not want to suffer the same fate as Saddam, so they reached for the pause button, just in case.
B. The Iraq war had nothing to do with it — Iran’s rulers were always filled with peaceful intentions, and were moved by the power of diplomacy, although it wasn’t happening yet.
(If your answer was “B”, CONGRATULATIONS! You’re on your way to being a CIA analyst.)
2. Iran holds the world’s second-largest oil and gas reserves. Iran is the world’s fourth largest oil producer. Iran has repeatedly threatened Israel with nuclear annihilation, vowing (in Apocalyptic language) to engulf the Mideast in a nuclear conflagration, to pave the way for the return of the 12th Imam. So, given these facts, which of the following is the most likely purpose behind Iran’s uranium enrichment program, with 3,000 centrifuges going full tilt:
A. To produce the bomb.
B. To generate peaceful electricity.
(Correct answer: B)
3. Iran has just finished successfully testing the Ashura, a solid-fuel, multistage missile with a range of 1,240 miles, putting Europe in range. Given these facts, the Ashura missile:
A. Represents a giant milepost on the road to developing a nuclear-tipped, Intercontinental Ballistic Missile, since an ICBM without a nuclear warhead makes little military sense.
B. Represents a milepost in peaceful Iran’s space program!
(Correct answer was obviously B, again.)
4. The 2007 NIE involves events in Iran in 2003, which took four years to uncover, by accident. Which means:
A. The latest NIE is four years out of date and useless in formulating current policy, since Iran could have restarted its nuclear program after 2003 undetected.
B. The NIE is very timely and accurate; driving using only the rear-view mirror can be very safe.
(The only correct answer is: B)
5. The 2007 NIE claims that Iran’s uranium enrichment and weaponization programs were shelved in 2003. Ahmadinejad then gets “elected”, the uranium enrichment resumes, so it’s logical to suspect the weaponization program:
A. Resumed as well.
B. Did not resume. Relax. Islamic republics led by madmen are always peaceful.
(Only possible answer: B)
6. The 2007 NIE pegs its revised assertions about Iran almost solely on an Iranian defector, the kind of source which:
A. Should be viewed with suspicion, given Iranian deception.
B. Should not be viewed with suspicion because Iran would never use the oldest trick in the book. Trust us. We’re the experts.
(No-brainer answer: B)
Now, to experience what it actually feels like to be a CIA analyst, think of your head as a thermometer. Next, take this thermometer and move it near the terminal section of the anal canal; insert the thermometer . . . there! You’re now a CIA ANALyst!
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