C.i.a. – Back to Basics
by The rise and fall and rise of the C.I.A.
In early days, before the name Central Intelligence Agency was coined, the basic spycraft was rather mundane. A person would arrive somewhere with impecable credentials; i.e. a lecturer at a University, a business leader, an Anthropologist, etc.
The spy would make contacts with locals. Learning the culture, documenting the issues, pushing a word here and there, act as an agent provocatuer, creating a situation from which the United States could prosper.
A few might risk their lives, but most spies were never suspected, and could never be caught because they didn’t do anything. Correction, they didn’t seem to do anything.
In truth, they were constantly spreading dissension, creating leaders of riots and demonstrations, creating traitors who would for some ‘higher purpose’ or a pocket of cash, betray secrets.
At the last part of the cold war, many spies had become buerocrats, and were easy to pick out in a crowd, easy to feed erroneous information, and not particularly useful. These traits were magnified when there was no longer a Russian Bear to track.
Instead of going back to basics, and behaving in a manner to gather information so that America would at least have a heads up, they ran in circles, often being on the wrong side of revolutions, supporting dictators, overthrowing governments which actually served the people.
Despite error after error; be it in the Caribbean or South America or Africa or Asia, the clumsy procedures and the lack of useful operatives made the Agency a bit of joke in the international community.
At the start of the 21st century the C.I.A. had lost so much credibility that even the clearest warnings were ignored. Hence, 9/11.
Since that terrible day the need for a useful intelligence gathering community forced the C.I.A. to return to the very basic pattern.
To break it down simply;
- 1. Arrive simply with the mentality you know nothing
- 2. Gather your own data and take time in developing contacts
- 3. Be slow in planting ideas
- 4. Assist clandestinely in creating various movements, many of them without actual name or hierarchy
- 5. Put events in motion, and withdraw
By January 2011 the C.I.A. was ready. Almost like throwing a switch, all North African nations, all Arab nations began a ’spontaneous’ uprising.
Some were over quickly, Tunisa and Egypt. Some became civil wars, such as Libya and Yemen, others a long lasting pre-revolution such as Syria.
The Saudi Government quickly appeased as did Morocco and Algeria, although Morocco is unsettled.
It is called the ‘Arab Spring’ and treated as if it were home grown, as if all the organisation was natural, and there were long standing issues, which no one seems to know of. No one seems to know why in January 2011 there was this sudden uprising. And no one is supposed to know. Not yet.
The C.I.A. orchestrated the ‘Arab Spring’. It took years to build which is why Osama Bin Laden was left alone for years. There was no sense in killing one man then having to face the wraith of all Arab nations who might go apeshit and kill Americans in a wild frenzy, destroy property, and cost far more in possible terrorist attacks.
What was necessary was to so distract the Arab world it could not note the death of Bin Laden.
With Egypt without a government, arguing over whatever, with Syrians protesting against their goverment, with Yemen in a virtual civil war, as is Libya, no one has time to show outrage or protest, or do anything to take away from their own troubles.
Hence, the Arab Spring heralds the return of the power of the C.I.A.
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