By: Catie Staff [Vox Editor]
There was a recent scandal concerning a leading American general named Petraeus. He admitted to having an affair and possibly compromising national security because he was a spy chief for the United States. These events lead people to think about how appropriate it is to use spies during wartime and peace. The United States, as well as other countries, is wise to use spies and covert operations to protect the U.S. and help end wars. It is the country’s responsibility to use individual people to find out military plans and end wars.
Spies and undercover operations have had many benefits in American history. The U.S. has used them to help win wars and discover the enemies’ plans. Finding out what an enemy country will do ahead of time, helps the U.S. to prepare and save the lives of our soldiers as well as the other country’s soldiers.
According to the book In The Line Of Fire, Eight Women War Spies by George Sullivan, American spies have put themselves in danger since the Revolutionary War in order to protect the American people. George Washington was saved by a woman named Lydia Darragh who spied on the British soldiers in her house and found out their secret attack date. She paved the way for other spies that have helped the United States during every war.
Spying during peacetime is controversial, as well as the act of spying on one’s own citizens. Americans feel very strongly about their rights and privacy, some even disagreeing with the use of traffic cameras. But the United States has departments working to discover and stop terrorist attacks and bombings that can only be done from the inside. According to www.cnn.com, there was a plane bomb plan that was foiled in May of 2012, proving that the United States is doing the right thing when they watch everyone.
Because spies are used by other countries and can compromise American intelligence agents, the U.S. should continue to place their own spy networks around the world and keep our country safe from attacks that would cause many lives to be lost.
