CIA family jewels (enemy, illegal, conspiracy, how much)

[AksarbeN]

Documents released by the CIA show that the US government wasn’t all an honest and truthful as what we would like to believe. The “family jewels” release by the CIA has many of us now asking more questions about issues of the past.

Article by Bill Van Auken:

The CIA’s release Wednesday of a nearly 700-page, previously classified set of documents known within the agency as the “family jewels” has served to spotlight rampant state criminality in Washington that continues to this day.

The documents were compiled in the midst of the 1973-74 Watergate scandal, sparked by the bungled burglary of Democratic Party offices in Washington, in which two of the perpetrators were long-time CIA operatives.

This popular resonance stems from the stark similarities between the illegal activities carried out by the CIA in the 1960s and 1970s and the current crimes of the Bush administration.

CIA documents show US government as principal terror force on the planet (broken link)

Makes you wonder sometimes as to just how much you do know about the issues of today?

[Rhett_Butler]

None of this is new or "shocking". A biased source's new spin on this might serve to rile up the particular audience it is targeting, but I'm guessing a majority of Americans aren't shocked that the CIA has made plans in the past to assassinate foreign leaders or that they'd committed murder in the past, etc....

Maybe when they re-write the story in another 10 years or so it will serve to anger you a third time???

[Mark S.]

Remember Saddam Hussein, that evildoer that we spent billions to depose? The one whom it was so vital for us to get rid of that our leaders lied us into a war? People tend to forget that the CIA help to put him in power in the first place.

[AksarbeN]

With this type of secrecy and corruption in government I can understand why people of other countries don’t want our democracy.

[saganista]

Sometimes the enemy dictates the rules. And sometimes people use the enemy as an excuse to dictate the rules themselves. It's a tricky game, all in all, but you really do have to watch out for the latter...

[Aqualung]

Originally Posted by VAFury

None of this is new or "shocking". A biased source's new spin on this might serve to rile up the particular audience it is targeting, but I'm guessing a majority of Americans aren't shocked that the CIA has made plans in the past to assassinate foreign leaders or that they'd committed murder in the past, etc....

Maybe when they re-write the story in another 10 years or so it will serve to anger you a third time???

Sure, there are many people who will not be shocked, but I also know many people who did not believe our government would do any of this, especially things like testing LSD on American citizens. Hopefully this information will help some of the sheep to wake up.

[AksarbeN]

Seems I remember several other topics in this forum that people just don’t believe our government could possibly have anything to do with an event that was being looked at as a conspiracy. Why our government wouldn’t do that to Americans. If our government did that hundreds of witness would step forward and tell everyone. How could they keep it secret? Well now you can see how this secret agency of your government is working. IT’s not the government that is bad, it’s some of the people in the government that are evil. http://www.airamericaplace.com/boards/style_emoticons/default/rage.gif (broken link)

[Rhett_Butler]

Originally Posted by Aqualung

Sure, there are many people who will not be shocked, but I also know many people who did not believe our government would do any of this, especially things like testing LSD on American citizens. Hopefully this information will help some of the sheep to wake up.

That's fair. Sadly many nations have these ultra-secret intelligence organizations. The CIA certainly doesn't hold a monopoly on the ugly and covert world of espionage, etc.. They just have more resources than most and work for the most powerful nation in the World at the moment. Back during the cold war years I'd love to see a side by side comparison on operations performed by the CIA compared with the KGB and get an idea of what each was doing.

[burdell]

Originally Posted by VAFury

That's fair. Sadly many nations have these ultra-secret intelligence organizations. The CIA certainly doesn't hold a monopoly on the ugly and covert world of espionage, etc.. They just have more resources than most and work for the most powerful nation in the World at the moment. Back during the cold war years I'd love to see a side by side comparison on operations performed by the CIA compared with the KGB and get an idea of what each was doing.

I'd like to know how much the CIS isn't admitting to

[Aqualung]

Originally Posted by VAFury

That's fair. Sadly many nations have these ultra-secret intelligence organizations. The CIA certainly doesn't hold a monopoly on the ugly and covert world of espionage, etc.. They just have more resources than most and work for the most powerful nation in the World at the moment. Back during the cold war years I'd love to see a side by side comparison on operations performed by the CIA compared with the KGB and get an idea of what each was doing.

What I want is for Americans to have a realistic view of this country. On one hand, I see people talk about how the US is this great nation of freedom, etc. They say we're better than every other nation. On the other hand, these same people use the justification that "everyone else is doing it", when discussing issues like Guantanamo.

I bring this up because you compare the CIA to the KGB. I don't think the comparison is relevant. We should not be judging ourselves this way. We should judge the actions of the CIA based on what this country believes is right or wrong. These hypocritical comparisons (justifications) need to stop. I believe the behavior of the CIA is unacceptable, REGARDLESS of what the rest of the world is doing.