Evil or Not: The CIA

[Oswald Acted Alone, You Kook]

BRTD's thread about the CIA memorial made me want to start this.

Anyway, you all know who they are, are they evil?

[I’m not Stu]

The CIA and Israel's Mossad are not "evil". While they have done some bad things like backing anti-communist dictatorships and backing Saddam Hussein and Al-Qaeda to fight the Soviet Union, they also do good things like gather information about terrorist groups to keep the world safe. They also get blamed for things they didn't do, like assassinating John F. Kennedy and Yasser Arafat. The CIA and Mossad didn't orchestrate 9/11. The CIA made big mistakes by overlooking the threat of Al-Qaeda. Higher-ups refused to listen to some agents who warned of potential Al-Qaeda attacks. The CIA has done a lot of good things, like preventing other Al-Qaeda attacks plannedfor 9/11 on the US Bank building in downtown Los Angeles and the Sears Tower in Chicago. Those crazy conspiracy theories are false. Most of what they do isn't even known to the public because it would jeopardize national security. They are bureaucracies, not without corruption and flaws. The CIA and Mossad are not some Dr. No or Bourne trilogy conspiracy masterminds. It seems that only leftists, Alex Jones Infowarriors, Jeff Rense fans, and antisemites think the CIA and Mossad are evil.

[nicholas.slaydon]

Evil

[I’m not Stu]

Why is it only leftists and occasionally Infowarriors and Ron Paul supporters who find the CIA and Mossad Evil?

[Shadows]

Salvador Allende, Chile

Mossadegh, Iran

Jacobo Arbenz, Guetemala

Sukarno, Indonesia

So many progressive, democratic, secular guys who were President, who tried to work for their country, didn't harm any1 or encourage violence, etc. They all got killed for no good reason. And in most cases in few years you have Communists or islamic fundamentalists etc getting popular support when progressive secular democratic being toppled.

And there are many other examples. I can't blame the CIA alone because they got support from top - But so many disgusting stuff was done!

As someone who opposes the Death penalty vehemently, I can't support killing of non-violent, secular progressives only because they don't agree with me 100%.

[Intell]

Awfully Evil.

[I’m not Stu]

What do non-leftists (other than Infowarriors and Ron Paul supporters) think about the CIA?

[Mr. Smith]

Evil for sure, a necessary evil at times, but an evil nonetheless.

[I’m not Stu]

Without the CIA and Mossad, things that are far more evil would happen, like more terrorist attacks. It seems only leftists only call the CIA and Mossad evil. These same leftists call the late dictator Ho Chi Minh a FF. What about the other planned attacks for 9/11 that the CIA stopped?

[Antonio the Sixth]

Obviously evil.

It's clear there has to be an agency that perform the function it does, but for God's sake it doesn't have to do it the way the CIA does.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Need to devote more attention to funding literary magazines and AbEx art like in the good old days imo.

[GoTfan]

This could be debated to deaht, honestly. I'm on the fence about it. On one hand, the stupid Banana Republic coups in South America had terrible results, and there has been a lot of blowback which puts US citizens in danger.

Hsowever, they have also done good things. Their forerunner, the OSS, played a key role in WW2; they have prevented dangerous groups from gaining dangerous material and they have saved a lot of lives.

Honestly, this is easily a very debatable topic.

[Santander]

If the government does it, it is not evil. (except for Obamacare)

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

Incompetent.

[Antonio the Sixth]

It's also worth reminding that they don't just sh*t all over foreign countries' institutions and rule of law - they do the exact same with US institutions and rule of law. Anyone remember how they hacked into the US Senate to thwart its investigations on torture?

It needs to be burnt to the ground and rebuilt from scratch.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

A necessary evil.

[Sir Mohamed]

Well, I voted not evil. We need intelligence and not everything the CIA is doing or has done is bad. But they made serious mistakes like the coup d’état in Chile in 1973 and the Iran coup in 1953. Both were horrible with fatal consequences. Nevertheless, the respective administrations of Eisenhower and Nixon are mainly responsible for that; the CIA only executed bad decisions. We also need more congressional oversight for all intelligence agencies; and it is unacceptable that they (the CIA) hacked into the Senate’s computers two years ago. The responsible people for that within the agency should be held accountable for their misbehavior.

[dead0man]

Well, I voted not evil. We need intelligence and not everything the CIA is doing or has done is bad. But they made serious mistakes like the coup d’état in Chile in 1973 and the Iran coup in 1953. Both were horrible with fatal consequences. Nevertheless, the respective administrations of Eisenhower and Nixon are mainly responsible for that; the CIA only executed bad decisions. We also need more congressional oversight for all intelligence agencies; and it is unacceptable that they (the CIA) hacked into the Senate’s computers two years ago. The responsible people for that within the agency should be held accountable for their misbehavior.

Indeed, blaming the tool for the actions of the politicians is always wrong.  It doesn't matter if it's the CIA, the DoD, IRS, whatever.  Blaming the CIA for knocking over foreign leaders is as stupid as blaming the Army for the Iraq War or the IRS because taxes are too high or complicated.

And with all secret organizations...you usually only hear about their actions when they funk up.  If sh**t goes perfectly it's not going to make the papers.