There are many national governments present in the world today that have been elected democratically by the people whom they represent. These governments are directly responsible and accountable to the people, and exist to better the lives of a majority of the people they serve and are chosen by. Being directly responsible to and for the people does not however entail a complete and open honesty with the people of that nation. In many cases it is in the best interest of the nation and its citizens to remain ignorant or purposefully deceived in regards to certain information. This is where intelligence agencies and government security organizations come into play. These organizations specialize in not only acquiring important information, but also in determining what information is suitable for the public at large and in classifying and keeping this information controlled and hidden. It is vital to national security that some information be kept from the public , or even that in certain cases the public be purposefully deceived with certain information.

A nation's defense forces rely heavily on intelligence and secrecy in performing a number of operations in everything from weapons resea

rch to the actual waging and fighting of a war. The information utilized by a nation's defense organizations is necessarily kept private and classified in order to maintain a clear advantage over potential enemies. This information may be in the form of weapons research and development, espionage and reconnaissance information, or in government plans of foreign action to name a few. All of these types of information are necessarily withheld from the public eye to retain and advantage over foreign intelligence services and to maintain national security.

It is clear that national governments and affiliated intelligence and security organizations must make certain information inaccessible to the public. This information must be kept classified and controlled for the sake of maintaining national security. The information dealt with often regards controversial government actions, plans for foreign operatives, and research and development vital to a nation's security. If this information were to leak and end up in the wrong hands, it could mean a serious breach of national security or a worldwide disaster in the worst of cases. It is for these reasons that some information must be kept from the citizens of a country. In many cases where intelligence and national security is concerned, ignorance really is bliss.

An example of intelligence information obtained in part by espionage and used to gain a clear and decisive advantage over the enemy comes from World War II. During the war the German military utilized a complicated and ingenious method of cyptology in the form of a machine called Enigma . Enigma was an electromechanical machine used to encode messages sent between factions of the German military. The level of Enigma's technology was well ahead of its time and German intelligence officials were sure that it was absolutely uncrackable and completely safe. The British cryptanalysts howeve

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Approximate Word count = 1283
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)