For the CIA specifically and the US generally though, it may have been possibly less about national security than energy and resource security, or more about protecting and promoting America's economic and strategic interests (both of which if not generally one and the same, are at least interrelated), and in this context many might argue that nothing much has changed.
It is no accident that Allen Dulles had very close personal and pecuniary ties to the then notorious United Fruit Company (UFC), throughout this era the preeminent 'poster-boy' global corporation for leveraging immense political clout in the ruthless exploitation of third world countries for its own economic and financial gain, especially so in Central and South America. Indeed, the indelible phrase 'banana republic' derives from the UFC's machinations in Latin America.
For several years Dulles sat on the UFC board, and was on the board in 1956 when the left leaning Guatemalan government of Jacobo Arbenz was toppled after declaring they would nationalise large amounts of its agricultural land--most of which was owned by--and from which were derived huge profits--the UFC.
And needless to say the CIA inspired coup--like the earlier Iranian coup in 1952, and the later attempted, abortive Cuban coup in 1962--was instigated by Dulles, whose prints were all over it. And for those contemplating the current crisis in Syria, it is instructive to note that it was in this war-torn and tattered country that the CIA really cut its teeth in the regime change business as early as 1949, and not as many think in Iran in 1953. (*See below for a fascinating video presentation regarding the history of this period.)
-- Spy v Spy v Spy --
It's fair to say then that the CIA narrative is a mixture of monumental misconduct, malevolence, mismanagement, malicious mayhem, mismanagement, malignant misdeeds, misfortune, mercenary misadventure, meddling, mendacity, mythomaniacal machinations, manipulation, and everything else in between. And that's just one letter of the alphabet!
Definitely not a show for the family then?
Once again, memory lane beckons. The CIA emerged from the break-up of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) at the end of World War II. Indeed it was with this organisation that Dulles cut his spy teeth. The OSS was established to coordinate the strategic intelligence activities of the US government during the war after the 'surprise' bombing of Pearl Harbor, and at the same time service the intelligence needs of all branches of the US military in concert with the Allies own intelligence services such as the UK's MI5 and MI6. The OSS was disbanded at the end of the war.
As indicated, the CIA in its current formation was eventually established in 1947, after an Executive Order of President Truman (he of 'the buck stops here' fame), a decision he came to deeply regret. HST assumed the presidency in the wake of FDR's not unexpected death in office less than 6 months before he --Truman --twice invited the Japanese to reconsider their reluctance to surrender by dropping a very large bomb firstly on the hapless citizens of Hiroshima and then again on those of Nagasaki three days later.
These actions --along with the long dreaded, imminent Soviet entry into the war from the West on the side of the US --helped convince the gung-ho, never say die 'Knights of Bushido' that their hitherto undying devotion to the Emperor and their dedication to the cause of victory in his honour might just have reached its limits after all.
Yet like Truman himself did with the Bomb, I digress.
In any event, originally the CIA's official charter was the creation of a 'one-stop shop', fully centralised intelligence procurement, analysis, and national security apparatus, but its unofficial charter was much more than that. This time the bad guys were the Soviets, not the Nazis or the Nips. This then is the story of the CIA mostly operating outside the spirit and letter of the charter, recurring elements in its ongoing narrative.
Then of course there is the small matter of the spirit and letter of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Especially it is about the consequences of some of these under the radar and off piste actions and how they have dramatically shaped the world we live in, along with some observations of those who might have known about them, what they might have known, when they might have known about them, and what their motives might have been.
That is to say from the get-go, and without putting too fine a point on it, it is also a story of what the big 'spy kids' will get up to without 'adult supervision'. What came to be known as the Family Jewels--the detailed reports of illegal or inappropriate CIA activity, especially those activities that fell outside of the aforementioned charter --were eventually released in 2007, thirty years after they were requested, and we will look at some of these espionage escapades in later episodes too.
There's a big menu to choose from. Treachery, sabotage, infiltration, duplicity, revenge, betrayal, human rights deprivation and abuse, deception, propaganda, disinformation, physical and psychological torture, assassination, cognitive reorientation, drug smuggling, money laundering, arms dealing, sensory deprivation, regime change, economic and political destabilisation, subterfuge, extraordinary rendition, criminal conspiracy, and intrigue and some old fashioned lying, cheating, stealing etc. were/are just some of the power tools of the trade and characteristic of The Agency's 'MO'. And the CIA made sure these "tools" were always powered up.
If these were supposed to be the good guys --imagine what the bad guys must have been getting up to!
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