Documentation: A Timeline of CIA Atrocities https://resistance1984.blogspot.com/2007/01/timeline-of-cia-atrociti...

More Create Blog Sign In

Documentation

Monday, January 22, 2007

A Timeline of CIA Atrocities

A Timeline of CIA Atrocities

By Steve Kangas

via:http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/CIAtimeline.html

The following timeline describes just a few of the hundreds of atrocities

and crimes committed by the CIA. (1)

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

1 of 18 8/28/18, 10:28 PM
Documentation: A Timeline of CIA Atrocities https://resistance1984.blogspot.com/2007/01/timeline-of-cia-atrociti...

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

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

2 of 18 8/28/18, 10:28 PM
Documentation: A Timeline of CIA Atrocities https://resistance1984.blogspot.com/2007/01/timeline-of-cia-atrociti...

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) and SS Colonel Otto Skorzeny
(a personal friend of Hitler’s). The Gehlen Organization supplies the
U.S. with its only intelligence on the Soviet Union for the next ten years,

3 of 18 8/28/18, 10:28 PM
Documentation: A Timeline of CIA Atrocities https://resistance1984.blogspot.com/2007/01/timeline-of-cia-atrociti...

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 Gehlen 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, antisabotage, 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

4 of 18 8/28/18, 10:28 PM
Documentation: A Timeline of CIA Atrocities https://resistance1984.blogspot.com/2007/01/timeline-of-cia-atrociti...

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 40s

Operation MOCKINGBIRD — The CIA begins recruiting American

news organizations and journalists to become spies and disseminators
of propaganda. The effort is headed by Frank Wisner, Allan Dulles,
Richard Helms and Philip Graham. 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

5 of 18 8/28/18, 10:28 PM
Documentation: A Timeline of CIA Atrocities https://resistance1984.blogspot.com/2007/01/timeline-of-cia-atrociti...

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, culminating in 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 "Armee
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 will
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

6 of 18 8/28/18, 10:28 PM
Documentation: A Timeline of CIA Atrocities https://resistance1984.blogspot.com/2007/01/timeline-of-cia-atrociti...

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

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 who 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.

7 of 18 8/28/18, 10:28 PM
Documentation: A Timeline of CIA Atrocities https://resistance1984.blogspot.com/2007/01/timeline-of-cia-atrociti...

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 reveals 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 Cypress,
Johnson tells him: "Fuck your parliament and your constitution."

Operation PHEONIX — 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

8 of 18 8/28/18, 10:28 PM
Documentation: A Timeline of CIA Atrocities https://resistance1984.blogspot.com/2007/01/timeline-of-cia-atrociti...

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 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.

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

9 of 18 8/28/18, 10:28 PM
Documentation: A Timeline of CIA Atrocities https://resistance1984.blogspot.com/2007/01/timeline-of-cia-atrociti...

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.

Wagergate 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 takes 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

10 of 18 8/28/18, 10:28 PM
Documentation: A Timeline of CIA Atrocities https://resistance1984.blogspot.com/2007/01/timeline-of-cia-atrociti...

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 nonintelligence 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

11 of 18 8/28/18, 10:28 PM
Documentation: A Timeline of CIA Atrocities https://resistance1984.blogspot.com/2007/01/timeline-of-cia-atrociti...

during the 60s, and details the crimes in which he took part.

Congress investigates CIA wrong-doing — 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.

Afghanistan — 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.

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

12 of 18 8/28/18, 10:28 PM
Documentation: A Timeline of CIA Atrocities https://resistance1984.blogspot.com/2007/01/timeline-of-cia-atrociti...

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

13 of 18 8/28/18, 10:28 PM
Documentation: A Timeline of CIA Atrocities https://resistance1984.blogspot.com/2007/01/timeline-of-cia-atrociti...

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

14 of 18 8/28/18, 10:28 PM
Documentation: A Timeline of CIA Atrocities https://resistance1984.blogspot.com/2007/01/timeline-of-cia-atrociti...

campaign painting the courageous priest as mentally unstable.

1991

The Gulf War — The U.S. liberates Kuwait from Iraq. But Iraq’s
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’s forces with sophisticated arms,
intelligence, training and financial backing. This cemented Hussein’s
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 — in
Kuwait, for example.

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.

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."

15 of 18 8/28/18, 10:28 PM
Documentation: A Timeline of CIA Atrocities https://resistance1984.blogspot.com/2007/01/timeline-of-cia-atrociti...

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 begs 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 begged question is: "Why should
American interests come at the expense of other peoples’ human

16 of 18 8/28/18, 10:28 PM
Documentation: A Timeline of CIA Atrocities https://resistance1984.blogspot.com/2007/01/timeline-of-cia-atrociti...

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 Adolf Hitlers 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.

Fair Use Notice: This blog contains copyrighted material the use of
which has not always been specifically authorized by the
copyright owner. I am making such material available in my efforts
to advance understanding of environmental, political, human
rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues,
and for the general purpose of criticism, comment, news reporting,
teaching, research and / or educational purposes only. I believe
this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance
with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material within this blog is
distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior
interest in receiving the included information for research and
educational purposes.

Posted by viva_la_resistance_1984 at 5:50 PM

No comments:

Post a Comment

Home Older Post

17 of 18 8/28/18, 10:28 PM
Documentation: A Timeline of CIA Atrocities https://resistance1984.blogspot.com/2007/01/timeline-of-cia-atrociti...

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Blog Archive
▼ 2007 (4)
▼ January (4)
A Timeline of CIA Atrocities
The Brotherhood And The Manipulation Of Society
9-11 Complete Information Guide
What Uncle Sam Really Wants

About Me
viva_la_resistance_1984
View my complete profile

18 of 18 8/28/18, 10:28 PM