{"id":38661,"date":"2021-04-16T17:37:24","date_gmt":"2021-04-16T17:37:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/?p=38661"},"modified":"2021-04-16T19:37:59","modified_gmt":"2021-04-16T19:37:59","slug":"cia-atrocities-ii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/cia-atrocities-ii\/","title":{"rendered":"CIA atrocities (II)"},"content":{"rendered":"

The following timeline describes just a few of the hundreds of atrocities and crimes committed by the CIA.<\/em><\/p>\n

Read the first part<\/a> of the article<\/p>\n

1970<\/strong><\/p>\n

Cambodia \u2013 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.<\/p>\n

\"\" 1971<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bolivia \u2013 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.<\/p>\n

Haiti \u2013 \u201cPapa Doc<\/em>\u201d Duvalier dies, leaving his 19-year old son \u201cBaby Doc<\/em>\u201d Duvalier the dictator of Haiti. His son continues his bloody reign with full knowledge of the CIA.<\/p>\n

1972<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>The Case-Zablocki Act \u2013 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.<\/p>\n

Cambodia \u2013 Congress votes to cut off CIA funds for its secret war in Cambodia.<\/p>\n

Watergate Break-in \u2013 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\u2019s illegal campaign contributions. CREEP\u2019s activities are funded and organized by another CIA front, the Mullen Company.<\/p>\n

1973<\/strong><\/p>\n

Chile \u2013 The CIA overthrows and assassinates Salvador Allende, Latin America\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

CIA begins internal investigations \u2013 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.<\/p>\n

Watergate Scandal \u2013 The CIA\u2019s main collaborating newspaper in America, The Washington Post<\/em>, reports Nixon\u2019s crimes long before any other newspaper takes up the subject. The two reporters, Woodward and Bernstein, make almost no mention of the CIA\u2019s 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, \u201cDeep Throat<\/em>,\u201d is probably one of those.<\/p>\n

CIA Director Helms Fired \u2013 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.<\/p>\n

1974<\/strong><\/p>\n

CHAOS exposed \u2013 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.<\/p>\n

Angleton fired \u2013 Congress holds hearings on the illegal domestic spying efforts of James Jesus Angleton, the CIA\u2019s chief of counterintelligence. His efforts included mail-opening campaigns and secret surveillance of war protesters. The hearings result in his dismissal from the CIA.<\/p>\n

\"\" House clears CIA in Watergate \u2013 The House of Representatives clears the CIA of any complicity in Nixon\u2019s Watergate break-in.<\/p>\n

The Hughes Ryan Act \u2013 Congress passes an amendment requiring the president to report nonintelligence CIA operations to the relevant congressional committees in a timely fashion.<\/p>\n

1975<\/strong><\/p>\n

Australia \u2013 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.<\/p>\n

Angola \u2013 Eager to demonstrate American military resolve after its defeat in Vietnam, Henry Kissinger launches a CIA-backed war in Angola. Contrary to Kissinger\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe CIA and the Cult of Intelligence<\/em>\u201d \u2013 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cInside the Company<\/em>\u201d \u2013 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.<\/p>\n

Congress investigates CIA wrong-doing \u2013 Public outrage compels Congress to hold hearings on CIA crimes. Senator Frank Church heads the Senate investigation (\u201cThe Church Committee<\/em>\u201d), 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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

The Rockefeller Commission \u2013 In an attempt to reduce the damage done by the Church Committee, President Ford creates the \u201cRockefeller Commission<\/em>\u201d to whitewash CIA history and propose toothless reforms. The commission\u2019s namesake, Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, is himself a major CIA figure. Five of the commission\u2019s eight members are also members of the Council on Foreign Relations, a CIA-dominated organization.<\/p>\n

1979<\/strong><\/p>\n

Iran \u2013 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\u2019s backing of SAVAK, the Shah\u2019s bloodthirsty secret police. In revenge, the Muslims take 52 Americans hostage in the U.S. embassy in Tehran.<\/p>\n

Afghanistan \u2013 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.<\/p>\n

El Salvador \u2013 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 \u201cnormal\u201d \u2013 the military government is repressing and killing poor civilian protesters. Many of the young military and civilian reformers, finding themselves powerless, resign in disgust.<\/p>\n

Nicaragua \u2013 Anastasio Somoza 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. Somoza 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.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

1980<\/strong><\/p>\n

El Salvador \u2013 The Archbishop of San Salvador, Oscar Romero, pleads with President Carter \u201cChristian to Christian<\/em>\u201d to stop aiding the military government slaughtering his people. Carter refuses. Shortly afterwards, right-wing leader Roberto D\u2019Aubuisson 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.<\/p>\n

1981<\/strong><\/p>\n

Iran\/Contra Begins \u2013 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 \u201cpressured<\/em>\u201d until \u201cthey say \u2018uncle.\u2019<\/em>\u201d The CIA\u2019s Freedom Fighter\u2019s Manual<\/em> disbursed to the Contras includes instruction on economic sabotage, propaganda, extortion, bribery, blackmail, interrogation, torture, murder and political assassination.<\/p>\n

1983<\/strong><\/p>\n

Honduras \u2013 The CIA gives Honduran military officers the Human Resource Exploitation Training Manual<\/em> \u2013 1983, which teaches how to torture people. Honduras\u2019 notorious \u201cBattalion 316<\/em>\u201d then uses these techniques, with the CIA\u2019s full knowledge, on thousands of leftist dissidents. At least 184 are murdered.<\/p>\n

1984<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Boland Amendment \u2013 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 \u201chand off\u201d the operation to Colonel Oliver North, who illegally continues supplying the Contras through the CIA\u2019s informal, secret, and self-financing network. This includes \u201chumanitarian aid<\/em>\u201d donated by Adolph Coors and William Simon, and military aid funded by Iranian arms sales.<\/p>\n

1986<\/strong><\/p>\n

Eugene Hasenfus \u2013 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\u2019s claims that the CIA is not illegally arming the Contras.<\/p>\n

Iran\/Contra Scandal \u2013 Although the details have long been known, the Iran\/Contra scandal finally captures the media\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

Haiti \u2013 Rising popular revolt in Haiti means that \u201cBaby Doc<\/em>\u201d Duvalier will remain \u201cPresident for Life<\/em>\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

1989<\/strong><\/p>\n

Panama \u2013 The U.S. invades Panama to overthrow a dictator of its own making, General Manuel Noriega. Noriega has been on the CIA\u2019s payroll since 1966, and has been transporting drugs with the CIA\u2019s knowledge since 1972. By the late 80s, Noriega\u2019s growing independence and intransigence have angered Washington\u2026 so out he goes.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

1990<\/strong><\/p>\n

Haiti \u2013 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\u2019s return, the CIA begins a disinformation campaign painting the courageous priest as mentally unstable.<\/p>\n

1991<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Gulf War \u2013 The U.S. liberates Kuwait from Iraq. But Iraq\u2019s 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\u2019s forces with sophisticated arms, intelligence, training and financial backing. This cemented Hussein\u2019s 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 \u2013 in Kuwait, for example.<\/p>\n

The Fall of the Soviet Union \u2013 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\u2019t 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\u2019s budget is not significantly reduced after the demise of communism.<\/p>\n

1992<\/strong><\/p>\n

Economic Espionage \u2013 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\u2019s clear preference for dirty tricks over mere information gathering, the possibility of serious criminal behavior is very great indeed.<\/p>\n

1993<\/strong><\/p>\n

Haiti \u2013 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\u2019s 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\u2019s ruling class.<\/p>\n

Epilogue<\/strong><\/p>\n

In a speech before the CIA celebrating its 50th anniversary, President Clinton said: \u201cBy necessity, the American people will never know the full story of your courage<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clinton\u2019s is a common defense of the CIA: namely, the American people should stop criticizing the CIA because they don\u2019t know what it really does. This, of course, is the heart of the problem in the first place.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

Today we have a remarkably accurate and consistent picture, repeated in country after country, and verified from countless different directions. The CIA\u2019s response to this growing knowledge and criticism follows a typical historical pattern. (Indeed, there are remarkable parallels to the Medieval Church\u2019s fight against the Scientific Revolution.) The first journalists and writers to reveal the CIA\u2019s criminal behavior were harassed and censored if they were American writers, and tortured and murdered if they were foreigners. (See Philip Agee\u2019s On the Run for an example of early harassment.)<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Clinton\u2019s \u201cAmericans will never know<\/em>\u201d defense is a prime example. Another common apologetic is that, \u201cthe world is filled with unsavory characters, and we must deal with them if we are to protect American interests at all<\/em>.\u201d There are two aspects 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: \u201cWhich American interests?<\/em>\u201d The CIA has courted right-wing dictators because they allow wealthy Americans to exploit the country\u2019s 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: \u201cWhy should American interests come at the expense of other peoples\u2019 human rights?<\/em>\u201d The CIA should be abolished, its leadership dismissed and its relevant members tried for crimes against humanity.<\/p>\n

The American 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 people 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.<\/p>\n

Which of these two options is best may be the subject of debate, but one aspect is clear: like dictatorship, like monarchy, unaccountable covert operations should die like the dinosaurs they are.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

yogaesoteric<\/strong>
\nApril 16, 2021<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The following timeline describes just a few of the hundreds of atrocities and crimes committed by the CIA. Read the first part of the article 1970 Cambodia \u2013 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, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1182],"tags":[1516],"class_list":["post-38661","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-state-sponsored-terror-in-the-world-3480-en","tag-article_of_the_week"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38661","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38661"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38661\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38675,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38661\/revisions\/38675"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}