Spy v Spy captured the cultural and political Zeitgeist in much the same way that Walt Kelly's Pogo comic strip had done years earlier with his 'We have met the enemy and he is us!' line referencing the (Joseph) McCarthy HUAC hearings in the previous decade. It's no coincidence that these iconic comical constructs have much in common, and if nothing else they both do much to dispel the notion that Americans don't do irony.
Flushed with the success of the Iranian coup in 1953, the CIA the following year refined their 'We have chaps for that' approach to persuading foreign governments--in many cases, popularly elected --they don't have a mandate for rule anymore (which is not to suggest they always did have), by informing them that their services are no longer compatible with American foreign policy and are now surplus to requirements.
These were the lucky ones. Others however weren't so fortunate, and were terminated with extreme prejudice, either by the CIA themselves or by those backed by The Company. In short the CIA always made available their innovative, unique retirement proposition for those not predisposed to accepting the new order of things.
It is with this intro in mind we proceed, as the next adventurous exploit concocted by Dulles and his Spy v Spy posse after the triumph of the Iranian coup was Guatemala.
-- And you Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead --
Of all the anecdotes one might recall in the head spinning annals of the CIA's malevolent, blood-drenched history, the following stands out as an immediate front-runner for the most comical, absurd, thigh slapping, surreal and inept, in an organisation that has an almost unsullied record of exploits befitting such a description, a record that rivals its more sinister 'portfolio' of dubious achievements.
This episode makes Austin Powers look like Jason Bourne. And it's difficult to imagine that Prohias himself could have dreamed up something as ludicrous as this.
In the late Chalmers Johnson's excellent collection of essays called Dismantling the Empire: America's Last Best Hope, in a 2007 piece titled "America Right or Wrong", he cites the case of the then newly appointed US Ambassador to Guatemala Marilyn McAfee.
For her part McAfee was an old-school American envoy in that she was an apparent believer in human rights, democracy, liberty, justice, the rule of law, self-determination, political freedom and the sanctity of the constitutional sovereignty of the country, along with other such quaint notions that as indicated have rarely been major considerations in the CIA's overall modus op. This stance alone would have marked her as 'unique', given the historical propensity of U.S. ambassadors and their diplomats to cooperate with the CIA and align themselves with its objectives in their host countries.
(Such is the nature of this anecdote that some readers may be inclined to view it as apocryphal. But Tim Weiner also records it for posterity in his book Legacy of Ashes - The History of the CIA.)
No doubt McAfee was fully aware of her host country's tragic history and the factors contributing to how it all played out, much of which David Talbot lays bare in his Allen Dulles bio (See Part One).
By practicing what she believed in carrying out her ambassadorial duties, she presumably was determined to make some small amends for her own country's self-serving, imperial machinations which had brought the hapless Guatemalans so much existential grief over so many decades.
Needless to say the liberal-minded McAfee's diplomatically egalitarian conduct was not viewed favourably with the folks down in the Langley bunkers--and doubtless had there been a spook on the ambassadorial selection panel, she would never have been offered the gig. They decided inevitably she was not a team player. In the CIA's worldview, such notions as those McAfee held were naive, and for her, proved career limiting.
In response, the spooks then bugged every room in US Embassy building in the capital Guatemala City, including in the Ambassador's bedroom, in order to get some dirt on her. The CIA station chief and his cohort were immediately 'rewarded' with the recorded sounds of the Ambassador engaging in what sounded like 'steamy' love-talk with--they surmised--her personal assistant, a Ms Carol Murphy. From this they concluded the two were having a love affair, as no doubt (ahem) any reasonable person would surmise of course.
To discredit her in the eyes of the Washington establishment with the view to having her removed from the post, the CIA spread the rumour that she was indeed a lesbian. However much to their surprise, the spooks later discovered the recipient of all the verbal lovemaking all the time was in fact--wait for it--McAfee's dog, a two year old black standard poodle whose name was--you guessed it--"Murphy".
As it turned out McAfee was a happily married woman who notwithstanding her politically liberal inclinations was from a relatively conservative family, the details of which we can presume somehow escaped the intrepid spooks in their diligent, righteous endeavours to despoil the reputation and career of an otherwise loyal, professional and effective diplomat.
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