Long before there was a CIA—or OSS even—the NKVD (Narodnyi Komissariat Vnutrennikh Del), basically the precursor to the KGB, headed by Stalin’s bloodthirsty henchman Lavrentiy Beria,was deeply embedded in many nations, wrecking havoc and all kinds of mischief.
They were in the USA in depth and had actually penetrated the Manhattan Project, with some saying the got as far up as Oppenheimer himself, but at least to dozens of Oppenheimer’s assistants, including the Rosenbergs, who were convicted and executed for espionage.
After WWII, they became the KGB and flushed out even more against us. It was ugly, bitter work opposing them. I think it was George Orwell who said, “We sleep peaceably in our beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on our behalf.”
Sure, the CIA were notorious. But so were the Soviets, and they were at it a lot longer than us. Whole countries fell to them after WWII, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, East Germany, Romania, and then North Korea, China (!!!), Vietnam, Mongolia, Egypt, Afghanistan and Cuba.
The KGB were trying in the rest of Europe (Greece, Italy, West Germany), Asia (Malaysia, Indonesia), the Middle East (Syria, Iraq, Iran, Yemen), Africa (Angola, Rhodesia/Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Kenya, Sudan, Libya, Algeria—what’s left?) and Latin America (Chile, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, Honduras, El Salvador, Argentina). The list is too long and I’m still sometimes surprised we won it.
I won’t belittle the CIA tactics in hindsight. Wish we could have done the peace a lot better, though.
The problem is we know cia have run drugs in mena,afghanistan,created wars all over and done all kinds of nefarious things. We also know there is a good part of the CIa It needs to be reinvented if it is to ever regain credibility.
Aside from a FEW brave souls - Hungary 56 - there were none who stood up for freedom from the tyranny/slavery that FDR agreed to with Stalin at Yalta.
And we are seeing this same type of framework today - the Dems and their Truth Departments working overtime to brainwash the 80%. Yes 80/20 is how the world works