Timeline of CIA Atrocities

By Steve Kangas

INTRODUCTION

The following timeline describes just a few of the hundreds of

1
atrocities and crimes committed by the CIA since 1943.

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

2
million people had died as a result of CIA covert operations.
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.

TIMELINE

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 Galen
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, anti-sabotage, 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 40’s: Operation MOCKINGBIRD

The CIA begins recruiting American news organizations and
journalists to become spies and disseminators of propaganda. Frank
Wisner, Allan Dulles, Richard Helms and Philip Graham head the
effort. 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 and finally 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 "Army
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 would 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: Kennedy Assassination

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 that 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
reveal 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
Cyprus, Johnson tells him: "Fuck your parliament and your
constitution."

Operation PHOENIX
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 Sihanouk, 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.

Watergate 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 take 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
non-intelligence 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 wrongdoing

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.

Lebanon: CIA Trains Phalangists on how to bomb civilians

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.

1993: World Trade Centre

1995: Oklahoma City Federal Building

2001: World Trade Centre

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 raises 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 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 Adolph Hitler's 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.

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.

Copyright 1996 Steve Kangas

Text can be quoted freely for non-commercial purposes only, with proper
attribution.

Published on Serendipity 2002-11-30.

More of the late Steve Kangas's writings at

Liberalism Resurgent: A Response to the Right.

See also:

z Activist Found Shot to Death Outside Billionaire's Office

z Who killed Web Warrior Steve Kangas?
z Kangas Links

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