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A Timeline of CIA Atrocities
By Steve Kangas
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The following timeline describes just a few of the hundreds of
atrocities and crimes committed by the CIA. (1)
CIA operations follow the same recurring script. First, American
business interests abroad are threatened by a popular or
democratically elected leader. The people support their leader
because he intends to conduct land reform, strengthen unions,
redistribute wealth, nationalize foreign-owned industry, and regulate
business to protect workers, consumers and the environment. So, on
behalf of American business, and often with their help, the CIA
mobilizes the opposition. First it identifies right-wing groups
within the country (usually the military), and offers them a deal:
"We'll put you in power if you maintain a favorable business climate
for us." The Agency then hires, trains and works with them to
overthrow the existing government (usually a democracy). It uses
every trick in the book: propaganda, stuffed ballot boxes, purchased
elections, extortion, blackmail, sexual intrigue, false stories about
opponents in the local media, infiltration and disruption of opposing
political parties, kidnapping, beating, torture, intimidation,
economic sabotage, death squads and even assassination. These efforts
culminate in a military coup, which installs a right-wing dictator.
The CIA trains the dictator s security apparatus to crack down on the
traditional enemies of big business, using interrogation, torture and
murder. The victims are said to be "communists," but almost always
they are just peasants, liberals, moderates, labor union leaders,
political opponents and advocates of free speech and democracy.
Widespread human rights abuses follow.
This scenario has been repeated so many times that the CIA actually
teaches it in a special school, the notorious "School of the
Americas." (It opened in Panama but later moved to Fort Benning,
Georgia.) Critics have nicknamed it the "School of the Dictators" and
"School of the Assassins." Here, the CIA trains Latin American
military officers how to conduct coups, including the use of
interrogation, torture and murder.
The Association for Responsible Dissent estimates that by 1987, 6
million people had died as a result of CIA covert operations. (2)
Former State Department official William Blum correctly calls this an
"American Holocaust."
The CIA justifies these actions as part of its war against communism.
But most coups do not involve a communist threat. Unlucky nations are
targeted for a wide variety of reasons: not only threats to American
business interests abroad, but also liberal or even moderate social
reforms, political instability, the unwillingness of a leader to
carry out Washington s dictates, and declarations of neutrality in
the Cold War. Indeed, nothing has infuriated CIA Directors quite like
a nation s desire to stay out of the Cold War.
The ironic thing about all this intervention is that it frequently
fails to achieve American objectives. Often the newly installed
dictator grows comfortable with the security apparatus the CIA has
built for him. He becomes an expert at running a police state. And
because the dictator knows he cannot be overthrown, he becomes
independent and defiant of Washington's will. The CIA then finds it
cannot overthrow him, because the police and military are under the
dictator's control, afraid to cooperate with American spies for fear
of torture and execution. The only two options for the U.S at this
point are impotence or war. Examples of this "boomerang effect"
include the Shah of Iran, General Noriega and Saddam Hussein. The
boomerang effect also explains why the CIA has proven highly
successful at overthrowing democracies, but a wretched failure at
overthrowing dictatorships.
The following timeline should confirm that the CIA as we know it
should be abolished and replaced by a true information-gathering and
analysis organization. The CIA cannot be reformed it is
institutionally and culturally corrupt.
1929
The culture we lost Secretary of State Henry Stimson refuses to
endorse a code-breaking operation, saying, "Gentlemen do not read
each other s mail."
1941
COI created In preparation for World War II, President Roosevelt
creates the Office of Coordinator of Information (COI). General
William "Wild Bill" Donovan heads the new intelligence service.
1942
OSS created Roosevelt restructures COI into something more suitable
for covert action, the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). Donovan
recruits so many of the nation s rich and powerful that eventually
people joke that "OSS" stands for "Oh, so social!" or "Oh, such
snobs!"
1943
Italy Donovan recruits the Catholic Church in Rome to be the center
of Anglo-American spy operations in Fascist Italy. This would prove
to be one of America s most enduring intelligence alliances in the
Cold War.
1945
OSS is abolished The remaining American information agencies cease
covert actions and return to harmless information gathering and
analysis.
Operation PAPERCLIP While other American agencies are hunting down
Nazi war criminals for arrest, the U.S. intelligence community is
smuggling them into America, unpunished, for their use against the
Soviets. The most important of these is Reinhard Gehlen, Hitler s
master spy who had built up an intelligence network in the Soviet
Union. With full U.S. blessing, he creates the "Gehlen Organization,"
a band of refugee Nazi spies who reactivate their networks in Russia.
These include SS intelligence officers Alfred Six and Emil Augsburg
(who massacred Jews in the Holocaust), Klaus Barbie (the "Butcher of
Lyon"), Otto von Bolschwing (the Holocaust mastermind who worked with
Eichmann) and SS Colonel Otto Skorzeny (a personal friend of Hitler
s). The Gehlen Organization supplies the U.S. with its only
intelligence on the Soviet Union for the next ten years, serving as a
bridge between the abolishment of the OSS and the creation of the
CIA. However, much of the "intelligence" the former Nazis provide is
bogus. Gehlen inflates Soviet military capabilities at a time when
Russia is still rebuilding its devastated society, in order to
inflate his own importance to the Americans (who might otherwise
punish him). In 1948, Gehlen almost convinces the Americans that war
is imminent, and the West should make a preemptive strike. In the 50s
he produces a fictitious "missile gap." To make matters worse, the
Russians have thoroughly penetrated the Gehlen Organization with
double agents, undermining the very American security that Gehlen was
supposed to protect.
1947
Greece President Truman requests military aid to Greece to support
right-wing forces fighting communist rebels. For the rest of the Cold
War, Washington and the CIA will back notorious Greek leaders with
deplorable human rights records.
CIA created President Truman signs the National Security Act of
1947, creating the Central Intelligence Agency and National Security
Council. The CIA is accountable to the president through the NSC
there is no democratic or congressional oversight. Its charter allows
the CIA to "perform such other functions and duties as the National
Security Council may from time to time direct." This loophole opens
the door to covert action and dirty tricks.
1948
Covert-action wing created The CIA recreates a covert action wing,
innocuously called the Office of Policy Coordination, led by Wall
Street lawyer Frank Wisner. According to its secret charter, its
responsibilities include "propaganda, economic warfare, preventive
direct action, including sabotage, antisabotage, demolition and
evacuation procedures; subversion against hostile states, including
assistance to underground resistance groups, and support of
indigenous anti-communist elements in threatened countries of the
free world."
Italy The CIA corrupts democratic elections in Italy, where Italian
communists threaten to win the elections. The CIA buys votes,
broadcasts propaganda, threatens and beats up opposition leaders, and
infiltrates and disrupts their organizations. It works -- the
communists are defeated.
1949
Radio Free Europe The CIA creates its first major propaganda outlet,
Radio Free Europe. Over the next several decades, its broadcasts are
so blatantly false that for a time it is considered illegal to
publish transcripts of them in the U.S.
Late 40s
Operation MOCKINGBIRD The CIA begins recruiting American news
organizations and journalists to become spies and disseminators of
propaganda. The effort is headed by Frank Wisner, Allan Dulles,
Richard Helms and Philip Graham. Graham is publisher of The
Washington Post, which becomes a major CIA player. Eventually, the
CIA s media assets will include ABC, NBC, CBS, Time, Newsweek,
Associated Press, United Press International, Reuters, Hearst
Newspapers, Scripps-Howard, Copley News Service and more. By the CIA
s own admission, at least 25 organizations and 400 journalists will
become CIA assets.
1953
Iran CIA overthrows the democratically elected Mohammed Mossadegh
in a military coup, after he threatened to nationalize British oil.
The CIA replaces him with a dictator, the Shah of Iran, whose secret
police, SAVAK, is as brutal as the Gestapo.
Operation MK-ULTRA Inspired by North Korea s brainwashing program,
the CIA begins experiments on mind control. The most notorious part
of this project involves giving LSD and other drugs to American
subjects without their knowledge or against their will, causing
several to commit suicide. However, the operation involves far more
than this. Funded in part by the Rockefeller and Ford foundations,
research includes propaganda, brainwashing, public relations,
advertising, hypnosis, and other forms of suggestion.
1954
Guatemala CIA overthrows the democratically elected Jacob Arbenz in
a military coup. Arbenz has threatened to nationalize the
Rockefeller-owned United Fruit Company, in which CIA Director Allen
Dulles also owns stock. Arbenz is replaced with a series of
right-wing dictators whose bloodthirsty policies will kill over
100,000 Guatemalans in the next 40 years.
1954-1958
North Vietnam CIA officer Edward Lansdale spends four years trying
to overthrow the communist government of North Vietnam, using all the
usual dirty tricks. The CIA also attempts to legitimize a tyrannical
puppet regime in South Vietnam, headed by Ngo Dinh Diem. These
efforts fail to win the hearts and minds of the South Vietnamese
because the Diem government is opposed to true democracy, land reform
and poverty reduction measures. The CIA s continuing failure results
in escalating American intervention, culminating in the Vietnam War.
1956
Hungary Radio Free Europe incites Hungary to revolt by broadcasting
Khruschev s Secret Speech, in which he denounced Stalin. It also
hints that American aid will help the Hungarians fight. This aid
fails to materialize as Hungarians launch a doomed armed revolt,
which only invites a major Soviet invasion. The conflict kills 7,000
Soviets and 30,000 Hungarians.
1957-1973
Laos The CIA carries out approximately one coup per year trying to
nullify Laos democratic elections. The problem is the Pathet Lao, a
leftist group with enough popular support to be a member of any
coalition government. In the late 50s, the CIA even creates an "Armee
Clandestine" of Asian mercenaries to attack the Pathet Lao. After the
CIA s army suffers numerous defeats, the U.S. starts bombing,
dropping more bombs on Laos than all the U.S. bombs dropped in World
War II. A quarter of all Laotians will eventually become refugees,
many living in caves.
1959
Haiti The U.S. military helps "Papa Doc" Duvalier become dictator of
Haiti. He creates his own private police force, the "Tonton
Macoutes," who terrorize the population with machetes. They will kill
over 100,000 during the Duvalier family reign. The U.S. does not
protest their dismal human rights record.
1961
The Bay of Pigs The CIA sends 1,500 Cuban exiles to invade Castro s
Cuba. But "Operation Mongoose" fails, due to poor planning, security
and backing. The planners had imagined that the invasion will spark a
popular uprising against Castro - which never happens. A promised
American air strike also never occurs. This is the CIA s first public
setback, causing President Kennedy to fire CIA Director Allen Dulles.
Dominican Republic The CIA assassinates Rafael Trujillo, a murderous
dictator Washington has supported since 1930. Trujillo s business
interests have grown so large (about 60 percent of the economy) that
they have begun competing with American business interests.
Ecuador The CIA-backed military forces the democratically elected
President Jose Velasco to resign. Vice President Carlos Arosemana
replaces him; the CIA fills the now vacant vice presidency with its
own man.
Congo (Zaire) The CIA assassinates the democratically elected
Patrice Lumumba. However, public support for Lumumba s politics runs
so high that the CIA cannot clearly install his opponents in power.
Four years of political turmoil follow.
1963
Dominican Republic The CIA overthrows the democratically elected
Juan Bosch in a military coup. The CIA installs a repressive,
right-wing junta.
Ecuador A CIA-backed military coup overthrows President Arosemana,
whose independent (not socialist) policies have become unacceptable
to Washington. A military junta assumes command, cancels the 1964
elections, and begins abusing human rights.
1964
Brazil A CIA-backed military coup overthrows the democratically
elected government of Joao Goulart. The junta that replaces it will,
in the next two decades, become one of the most bloodthirsty in
history. General Castelo Branco will create Latin America s first
death squads, or bands of secret police who hunt down "communists"
for torture, interrogation and murder. Often these "communists" are
no more than Branco s political opponents. Later it is revealed that
the CIA trains the death squads.
1965
Indonesia The CIA overthrows the democratically elected Sukarno with
a military coup. The CIA has been trying to eliminate Sukarno since
1957, using everything from attempted assassination to sexual
intrigue, for nothing more than his declaring neutrality in the Cold
War. His successor, General Suharto, will massacre between 500,000 to
1 million civilians accused of being "communist." The CIA supplies
the names of countless suspects.
Dominican Republic A popular rebellion breaks out, promising to
reinstall Juan Bosch as the country s elected leader. The revolution
is crushed when U.S. Marines land to uphold the military regime by
force. The CIA directs everything behind the scenes.
Greece With the CIA s backing, the king removes George Papandreous
as prime minister. Papandreous has failed to vigorously support U.S.
interests in Greece.
Congo (Zaire) A CIA-backed military coup installs Mobutu Sese Seko
as dictator. The hated and repressive Mobutu exploits his desperately
poor country for billions.
1966
The Ramparts Affair The radical magazine Ramparts begins a series of
unprecedented anti-CIA articles. Among their scoops: the CIA has paid
the University of Michigan $25 million dollars to hire "professors"
to train South Vietnamese students in covert police methods. MIT and
other universities have received similar payments. Ramparts also
reveals that the National Students Association is a CIA front.
Students are sometimes recruited through blackmail and bribery,
including draft deferments.
1967
Greece A CIA-backed military coup overthrows the government two days
before the elections. The favorite to win was George Papandreous, the
liberal candidate. During the next six years, the "reign of the
colonels" backed by the CIA will usher in the widespread use of
torture and murder against political opponents. When a Greek
ambassador objects to President Johnson about U.S. plans for Cypress,
Johnson tells him: "Fuck your parliament and your constitution."
Operation PHEONIX The CIA helps South Vietnamese agents identify and
then murder alleged Viet Cong leaders operating in South Vietnamese
villages. According to a 1971 congressional report, this operation
killed about 20,000 "Viet Cong."
1968
Operation CHAOS The CIA has been illegally spying on American
citizens since 1959, but with Operation CHAOS, President Johnson
dramatically boosts the effort. CIA agents go undercover as student
radicals to spy on and disrupt campus organizations protesting the
Vietnam War. They are searching for Russian instigators, which they
never find. CHAOS will eventually spy on 7,000 individuals and 1,000
organizations.
Bolivia A CIA-organized military operation captures legendary
guerilla Che Guevara. The CIA wants to keep him alive for
interrogation, but the Bolivian government executes him to prevent
worldwide calls for clemency.
1969
Uruguay The notorious CIA torturer Dan Mitrione arrives in Uruguay,
a country torn with political strife. Whereas right-wing forces
previously used torture only as a last resort, Mitrione convinces
them to use it as a routine, widespread practice. "The precise pain,
in the precise place, in the precise amount, for the desired effect,"
is his motto. The torture techniques he teaches to the death squads
rival the Nazis . He eventually becomes so feared that
revolutionaries will kidnap and murder him a year later.
1970
Cambodia The CIA overthrows Prince Sahounek, who is highly popular
among Cambodians for keeping them out of the Vietnam War. He is
replaced by CIA puppet Lon Nol, who immediately throws Cambodian
troops into battle. This unpopular move strengthens once minor
opposition parties like the Khmer Rouge, which achieves power in 1975
and massacres millions of its own people.
1971
Bolivia After half a decade of CIA-inspired political turmoil, a
CIA-backed military coup overthrows the leftist President Juan
Torres. In the next two years, dictator Hugo Banzer will have over
2,000 political opponents arrested without trial, then tortured,
raped and executed.
Haiti "Papa Doc" Duvalier dies, leaving his 19-year old son "Baby
Doc" Duvalier the dictator of Haiti. His son continues his bloody
reign with full knowledge of the CIA.
1972
The Case-Zablocki Act Congress passes an act requiring congressional
review of executive agreements. In theory, this should make CIA
operations more accountable. In fact, it is only marginally
effective.
Cambodia Congress votes to cut off CIA funds for its secret war in
Cambodia.
Wagergate Break-in President Nixon sends in a team of burglars to
wiretap Democratic offices at Watergate. The team members have
extensive CIA histories, including James McCord, E. Howard Hunt and
five of the Cuban burglars. They work for the Committee to Reelect
the President (CREEP), which does dirty work like disrupting
Democratic campaigns and laundering Nixon s illegal campaign
contributions. CREEP s activities are funded and organized by another
CIA front, the Mullen Company.
1973
Chile The CIA overthrows and assassinates Salvador Allende, Latin
America s first democratically elected socialist leader. The problems
begin when Allende nationalizes American-owned firms in Chile. ITT
offers the CIA $1 million for a coup (reportedly refused). The CIA
replaces Allende with General Augusto Pinochet, who will torture and
murder thousands of his own countrymen in a crackdown on labor
leaders and the political left.
CIA begins internal investigations William Colby, the Deputy
Director for Operations, orders all CIA personnel to report any and
all illegal activities they know about. This information is later
reported to Congress.
Watergate Scandal The CIA s main collaborating newspaper in America,
The Washington Post, reports Nixon s crimes long before any other
newspaper takes up the subject. The two reporters, Woodward and
Bernstein, make almost no mention of the CIA s many fingerprints all
over the scandal. It is later revealed that Woodward was a Naval
intelligence briefer to the White House, and knows many important
intelligence figures, including General Alexander Haig. His main
source, "Deep Throat," is probably one of those.
CIA Director Helms Fired President Nixon fires CIA Director Richard
Helms for failing to help cover up the Watergate scandal. Helms and
Nixon have always disliked each other. The new CIA director is
William Colby, who is relatively more open to CIA reform.
1974
CHAOS exposed Pulitzer prize winning journalist Seymour Hersh
publishes a story about Operation CHAOS, the domestic surveillance
and infiltration of anti-war and civil rights groups in the U.S. The
story sparks national outrage.
Angleton fired Congress holds hearings on the illegal domestic
spying efforts of James Jesus Angleton, the CIA s chief of
counterintelligence. His efforts included mail-opening campaigns and
secret surveillance of war protesters. The hearings result in his
dismissal from the CIA.
House clears CIA in Watergate The House of Representatives clears
the CIA of any complicity in Nixon s Watergate break-in.
The Hughes Ryan Act Congress passes an amendment requiring the
president to report nonintelligence CIA operations to the relevant
congressional committees in a timely fashion.
1975
Australia The CIA helps topple the democratically elected,
left-leaning government of Prime Minister Edward Whitlam. The CIA
does this by giving an ultimatum to its Governor-General, John Kerr.
Kerr, a longtime CIA collaborator, exercises his constitutional right
to dissolve the Whitlam government. The Governor-General is a largely
ceremonial position appointed by the Queen; the Prime Minister is
democratically elected. The use of this archaic and never-used law
stuns the nation.
Angola Eager to demonstrate American military resolve after its
defeat in Vietnam, Henry Kissinger launches a CIA-backed war in
Angola. Contrary to Kissinger s assertions, Angola is a country of
little strategic importance and not seriously threatened by
communism. The CIA backs the brutal leader of UNITAS, Jonas Savimbi.
This polarizes Angolan politics and drives his opponents into the
arms of Cuba and the Soviet Union for survival. Congress will cut off
funds in 1976, but the CIA is able to run the war off the books until
1984, when funding is legalized again. This entirely pointless war
kills over 300,000 Angolans.
"The CIA and the Cult of Intelligence" Victor Marchetti and John
Marks publish this whistle-blowing history of CIA crimes and abuses.
Marchetti has spent 14 years in the CIA, eventually becoming an
executive assistant to the Deputy Director of Intelligence. Marks has
spent five years as an intelligence official in the State Department.
"Inside the Company" Philip Agee publishes a diary of his life
inside the CIA. Agee has worked in covert operations in Latin America
during the 60s, and details the crimes in which he took part.
Congress investigates CIA wrong-doing Public outrage compels
Congress to hold hearings on CIA crimes. Senator Frank Church heads
the Senate investigation ("The Church Committee"), and Representative
Otis Pike heads the House investigation. (Despite a 98 percent
incumbency reelection rate, both Church and Pike are defeated in the
next elections.) The investigations lead to a number of reforms
intended to increase the CIA s accountability to Congress, including
the creation of a standing Senate committee on intelligence. However,
the reforms prove ineffective, as the Iran/Contra scandal will show.
It turns out the CIA can control, deal with or sidestep Congress with
ease.
The Rockefeller Commission In an attempt to reduce the damage done
by the Church Committee, President Ford creates the "Rockefeller
Commission" to whitewash CIA history and propose toothless reforms.
The commission s namesake, Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, is
himself a major CIA figure. Five of the commission s eight members
are also members of the Council on Foreign Relations, a CIA-dominated
organization.
1979
Iran The CIA fails to predict the fall of the Shah of Iran, a
longtime CIA puppet, and the rise of Muslim fundamentalists who are
furious at the CIA s backing of SAVAK, the Shah s bloodthirsty secret
police. In revenge, the Muslims take 52 Americans hostage in the U.S.
embassy in Tehran.
Afghanistan The Soviets invade Afghanistan. The CIA immediately
begins supplying arms to any faction willing to fight the occupying
Soviets. Such indiscriminate arming means that when the Soviets leave
Afghanistan, civil war will erupt. Also, fanatical Muslim extremists
now possess state-of-the-art weaponry. One of these is Sheik Abdel
Rahman, who will become involved in the World Trade Center bombing in
New York.
El Salvador An idealistic group of young military officers, repulsed
by the massacre of the poor, overthrows the right-wing government.
However, the U.S. compels the inexperienced officers to include many
of the old guard in key positions in their new government. Soon,
things are back to "normal" the military government is repressing
and killing poor civilian protesters. Many of the young military and
civilian reformers, finding themselves powerless, resign in disgust.
Nicaragua Anastasios Samoza II, the CIA-backed dictator, falls. The
Marxist Sandinistas take over government, and they are initially
popular because of their commitment to land and anti-poverty reform.
Samoza had a murderous and hated personal army called the National
Guard. Remnants of the Guard will become the Contras, who fight a
CIA-backed guerilla war against the Sandinista government throughout
the 1980s.
1980
El Salvador The Archbishop of San Salvador, Oscar Romero, pleads
with President Carter "Christian to Christian" to stop aiding the
military government slaughtering his people. Carter refuses. Shortly
afterwards, right-wing leader Roberto D Aubuisson has Romero shot
through the heart while saying Mass. The country soon dissolves into
civil war, with the peasants in the hills fighting against the
military government. The CIA and U.S. Armed Forces supply the
government with overwhelming military and intelligence superiority.
CIA-trained death squads roam the countryside, committing atrocities
like that of El Mazote in 1982, where they massacre between 700 and
1000 men, women and children. By 1992, some 63,000 Salvadorans will
be killed.
1981
Iran/Contra Begins The CIA begins selling arms to Iran at high
prices, using the profits to arm the Contras fighting the Sandinista
government in Nicaragua. President Reagan vows that the Sandinistas
will be "pressured" until "they say uncle. " The CIA s Freedom
Fighter s Manual disbursed to the Contras includes instruction on
economic sabotage, propaganda, extortion, bribery, blackmail,
interrogation, torture, murder and political assassination.
1983
Honduras The CIA gives Honduran military officers the Human Resource
Exploitation Training Manual 1983, which teaches how to torture
people. Honduras notorious "Battalion 316" then uses these
techniques, with the CIA s full knowledge, on thousands of leftist
dissidents. At least 184 are murdered.
1984
The Boland Amendment The last of a series of Boland Amendments is
passed. These amendments have reduced CIA aid to the Contras; the
last one cuts it off completely. However, CIA Director William Casey
is already prepared to "hand off" the operation to Colonel Oliver
North, who illegally continues supplying the Contras through the CIA
s informal, secret, and self-financing network. This includes
"humanitarian aid" donated by Adolph Coors and William Simon, and
military aid funded by Iranian arms sales.
1986
Eugene Hasenfus Nicaragua shoots down a C-123 transport plane
carrying military supplies to the Contras. The lone survivor, Eugene
Hasenfus, turns out to be a CIA employee, as are the two dead pilots.
The airplane belongs to Southern Air Transport, a CIA front. The
incident makes a mockery of President Reagan s claims that the CIA is
not illegally arming the Contras.
Iran/Contra Scandal Although the details have long been known, the
Iran/Contra scandal finally captures the media s attention in 1986.
Congress holds hearings, and several key figures (like Oliver North)
lie under oath to protect the intelligence community. CIA Director
William Casey dies of brain cancer before Congress can question him.
All reforms enacted by Congress after the scandal are purely
cosmetic.
Haiti Rising popular revolt in Haiti means that "Baby Doc" Duvalier
will remain "President for Life" only if he has a short one. The
U.S., which hates instability in a puppet country, flies the despotic
Duvalier to the South of France for a comfortable retirement. The CIA
then rigs the upcoming elections in favor of another right-wing
military strongman. However, violence keeps the country in political
turmoil for another four years. The CIA tries to strengthen the
military by creating the National Intelligence Service (SIN), which
suppresses popular revolt through torture and assassination.
1989
Panama The U.S. invades Panama to overthrow a dictator of its own
making, General Manuel Noriega. Noriega has been on the CIA s payroll
since 1966, and has been transporting drugs with the CIA s knowledge
since 1972. By the late 80s, Noriega s growing independence and
intransigence have angered Washington so out he goes.
1990
Haiti Competing against 10 comparatively wealthy candidates, leftist
priest Jean-Bertrand Aristide captures 68 percent of the vote. After
only eight months in power, however, the CIA-backed military deposes
him. More military dictators brutalize the country, as thousands of
Haitian refugees escape the turmoil in barely seaworthy boats. As
popular opinion calls for Aristide s return, the CIA begins a
disinformation campaign painting the courageous priest as mentally
unstable.
1991
The Gulf War The U.S. liberates Kuwait from Iraq. But Iraq s
dictator, Saddam Hussein, is another creature of the CIA. With U.S.
encouragement, Hussein invaded Iran in 1980. During this costly
eight-year war, the CIA built up Hussein s forces with sophisticated
arms, intelligence, training and financial backing. This cemented
Hussein s power at home, allowing him to crush the many internal
rebellions that erupted from time to time, sometimes with poison gas.
It also gave him all the military might he needed to conduct further
adventurism in Kuwait, for example.
The Fall of the Soviet Union The CIA fails to predict this most
important event of the Cold War. This suggests that it has been so
busy undermining governments that it hasn t been doing its primary
job: gathering and analyzing information. The fall of the Soviet
Union also robs the CIA of its reason for existence: fighting
communism. This leads some to accuse the CIA of intentionally failing
to predict the downfall of the Soviet Union. Curiously, the
intelligence community s budget is not significantly reduced after
the demise of communism.
1992
Economic Espionage In the years following the end of the Cold War,
the CIA is increasingly used for economic espionage. This involves
stealing the technological secrets of competing foreign companies and
giving them to American ones. Given the CIA s clear preference for
dirty tricks over mere information gathering, the possibility of
serious criminal behavior is very great indeed.
1993
Haiti The chaos in Haiti grows so bad that President Clinton has no
choice but to remove the Haitian military dictator, Raoul Cedras, on
threat of U.S. invasion. The U.S. occupiers do not arrest Haiti s
military leaders for crimes against humanity, but instead ensure
their safety and rich retirements. Aristide is returned to power only
after being forced to accept an agenda favorable to the country s
ruling class.
EPILOGUE
In a speech before the CIA celebrating its 50th anniversary,
President Clinton said: "By necessity, the American people will never
know the full story of your courage."
Clinton s is a common defense of the CIA: namely, the American people
should stop criticizing the CIA because they don t know what it
really does. This, of course, is the heart of the problem in the
first place. An agency that is above criticism is also above moral
behavior and reform. Its secrecy and lack of accountability allows
its corruption to grow unchecked.
Furthermore, Clinton s statement is simply untrue. The history of the
agency is growing painfully clear, especially with the
declassification of historical CIA documents. We may not know the
details of specific operations, but we do know, quite well, the
general behavior of the CIA. These facts began emerging nearly two
decades ago at an ever-quickening pace. Today we have a remarkably
accurate and consistent picture, repeated in country after country,
and verified from countless different directions.
The CIA s response to this growing knowledge and criticism follows a
typical historical pattern. (Indeed, there are remarkable parallels
to the Medieval Church s fight against the Scientific Revolution.)
The first journalists and writers to reveal the CIA s criminal
behavior were harassed and censored if they were American writers,
and tortured and murdered if they were foreigners. (See Philip Agee s
On the Run for an example of early harassment.) However, over the
last two decades the tide of evidence has become overwhelming, and
the CIA has found that it does not have enough fingers to plug every
hole in the dike. This is especially true in the age of the Internet,
where information flows freely among millions of people. Since
censorship is impossible, the Agency must now defend itself with
apologetics. Clinton s "Americans will never know" defense is a prime
example.
Another common apologetic is that "the world is filled with unsavory
characters, and we must deal with them if we are to protect American
interests at all." There are two things wrong with this. First, it
ignores the fact that the CIA has regularly spurned alliances with
defenders of democracy, free speech and human rights, preferring the
company of military dictators and tyrants. The CIA had moral options
available to them, but did not take them.
Second, this argument begs several questions. The first is: "Which
American interests?" The CIA has courted right-wing dictators because
they allow wealthy Americans to exploit the country s cheap labor and
resources. But poor and middle-class Americans pay the price whenever
they fight the wars that stem from CIA actions, from Vietnam to the
Gulf War to Panama. The second begged question is: "Why should
American interests come at the expense of other peoples human
rights?"
The CIA should be abolished, its leadership dismissed and its
relevant members tried for crimes against humanity. Our intelligence
community should be rebuilt from the ground up, with the goal of
collecting and analyzing information. As for covert action, there are
two moral options. The first one is to eliminate covert action
completely. But this gives jitters to people worried about the Adolf
Hitlers of the world. So a second option is that we can place covert
action under extensive and true democratic oversight. For example, a
bipartisan Congressional Committee of 40 members could review and
veto all aspects of CIA operations upon a majority or super-majority
vote. Which of these two options is best may be the subject of
debate, but one thing is clear: like dictatorship, like monarchy,
unaccountable covert operations should die like the dinosaurs they
are.
Related links:
The Origins of the Overclass.
Myth: There s no "vast right wing conspiracy" to get Clinton.
Myth: Conservative think tanks are the answer to liberal academia.
[up] Return to Liberalism Resurgent
Endnotes:
1. All history concerning CIA intervention in foreign countries is
summarized from William Blum s encyclopedic work, Killing Hope: U.S.
Military and CIA Interventions since World War II (Monroe, Maine:
Common Courage Press, 1995). Sources for domestic CIA operations come
from Jonathan Vankin and John Whalen s The 60 Greatest Conspiracies
of All Time (Secaucus, N.J.: Citadel Press, 1997).
2. Coleman McCarthy, "The Consequences of Covert Tactics" Washington
Post, December 13, 1987.