CIA's Historical Contributions

[Tarun]

Received from Main line news group.no link provided. Long but very informative.

 

A TIMELINE OF CIA ATROCITIES (by Steve Kangas)

 

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) . 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: "####

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 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 enters in Afghanistan. The

CIA immediately begins supplying arms to any faction

willing to fight the 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 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.

http://forums.delphiforums.com/nodubya/messages/?msg=1982.1

 

 

 

 

[This message has been edited by Tarun (edited 01-24-2002).]