CIA Covert Ops: Not What They’re Cracked Up to be
Movies like James Bond and The Bourne Supremacy give the impression that the intelligence business is one of non-stop action, intrigue and danger. The truth is something else, according to John Stockwell’s insider account in his book “In Search of Enemies”.
John Stockwell is an ex-CIA officer who headed the agency’s Angola Task Force in 1975. This unit was set up to organise American assistance to factions during that country’s post-independence civil war. The CIA provided arms and other help to the FNLA and UNITA, which were also backed by Zaire under Mobutu (a somewhat unstable dictator that the United States courted), and China and Portugal (the former colonial master of Angola) to various extents. The MPLA, the faction that eventually won the war, was backed by the USSR and Cuba.
The MPLA had stated that it was willing to seek friendly relations with Washington, but certain forces in the US government saw (or imagined) Soviet threats all over the world and wanted to prolong the war in order to “deny the MPLA an easy victory”. This covert operation – which made use of mercenaries and South African forces, both repugnant to black Africa – cost the lives of many thousands of Angolans, and accomplished virtually nothing of value for the United States. It is regarded as perhaps the most wasteful and pointless operation undertaken by the agency, and it badly tarnished American standing and prestige in Africa.
Stockwell came to see the CIA’s role in the Third World as unconscionable and decided to expose its Angolan machinations in a book. Apart from providing countless details about his part in the shenanigans, he also provided insights into how covert operations actually work. Far from conforming to the James Bond stereotype, these operations involve an enormous amount of bureaucratic wrangling, personal issues coming to the fore (like laziness, drunkenness, depression and work stress), inefficiency, favouritism and complacency. Interesting also is his claim (corroborated by other agency defectors like Phillip Agee) that being an agency operative rarely exposed one to the risk of being killed by the KGB (the Soviet secret service). CIA officers were far more likely to meet danger at the hands of customs officials when operating in foreign lands.
In Search of Enemies is a fascinating book and it should be read by everyone with an interest in foreign policy, as well as the threats posed by unaccountable power masquearding under the cover of “national security”.
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