What the CIA can't do

Believe it or not, truth is what the Central Intelligence Agency is after. Indeed, intelligence and counterintelligence are all about truth because truth hurts, as the saying goes. Truth can always be weaponized to the detriment of a targeted entity. That's why every CIA officer is fully ready to cite this quote by Winston Churchill: "In wartime, truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies." It is interesting to note that Churchill loved truth as a cherished lady in danger. But then I digress.

The Cold War gave birth to the CIA. However, the Cold Warriors were not so adept at anti-terrorism. Following 9/11, along with other intelligence bureaucracies, the CIA was called on the carpet for failing to connect the dots. The missing lines and links might be a result of an honest mistake, but it was a fatal mistake nonetheless. Needless to say, some heads had to roll, figuratively speaking. That's called accountability.

Still, some conspiracy theorists never give up the notion of an omnipotent CIA in Teflon. They portray the CIA as the ultimate conspiracy practitioner that has somehow divinely brought about the Color Revolutions abroad while running a Deep State at home. The burden of proof is theirs and they have no proof whatsoever. But fools rush in and swallow their conspiracy theories hook, line, and sinker.


Popular movements such as the Color Revolutions, however, are quite beyond the reach of the CIA. For one thing, no one can engineer spontaneity. No plotter can choreograph hundreds of thousands of people from all walks of life into an organic force of change. The CIA plays no god. It is no god. At best, it can have a marginal impact on the ebb and flow of a popular movement. CIA or no CIA, people are more sophisticated and independent-minded than they are given credit for. Nicolae Ceau?escu learned it the hard way, didn't he?


Historically, Americans had their "wildcat strikes." Who else can herd the wildcats but the wildcats themselves? In 2004, Ukraine's Orange Revolutionaries were wildcats--intelligent, nimble, self-initiated and self-directed. There's no way the CIA could or can herd the wildcat revolutionaries with a magic wand. This fact is a major reason why America prefers to turn the screws on Putin and his ilk with economic sanctions. Let Putin blame America until the Russians blame him more. If and when the Russians blame Putin enough, the roots of a wildcat revolution will have a better chance to take hold in Russia. It is a waiting game the CIA is playing. By "waiting," I mean that the CIA is keeping an ear to the ground, not sitting on its hands.




Author: renqiulan

所有跟帖： 

• 晚安！ -花似鹿蔥- ♀ (0 bytes) () 05/18/2023 postreply 20:40:00

• 蔥姐晚安！ -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 05/18/2023 postreply 20:46:23

• 老弟，你什麽時候在這個課題上做工夫？ -LYJiang- ♂ (0 bytes) () 05/18/2023 postreply 20:45:36

• 江先生又取笑我。家事、國事、天下事，事事關心嘛。 -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 05/18/2023 postreply 20:48:34

• 書生論政過癮，還是吟風弄月過癮？ -LYJiang- ♂ (0 bytes) () 05/18/2023 postreply 20:51:36

• 用心寫，開心寫，就過癮。論政也好，吟詩也好。中國古人如是，今人不妨如是。何況在言論自由之鄉？ -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 05/18/2023 postreply 20:56:21

• 知你會這樣對答的。好，收貨。周末由你們夫婦做響導，領我們一遊美國獨立革命的根據地。咱們正在康州。晚了。 -LYJiang- ♂ (0 bytes) () 05/18/2023 postreply 21:00:51

• 先生晚安！ -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 05/18/2023 postreply 21:01:48

• 且慢。文中的“Teflon”, 可否略為解釋一下。我不曉。 -LYJiang- ♂ (0 bytes) () 05/18/2023 postreply 21:04:07

• Teflon 是一種保護質料。引伸為：即使任人攻擊，也毫發不損。Ronald Reagan was in Teflon. -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 05/18/2023 postreply 21:08:31

• 老弟，明白了。謝謝！ -LYJiang- ♂ (0 bytes) () 05/18/2023 postreply 21:09:47

• 何必客氣？先生明日康州覽勝愉快！ -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 05/18/2023 postreply 21:12:07

• 裏根時的議長M省的T O'Neill, 很有眼界的，不像如今。他與老裏應合作不錯吧。 -AP33912- ♂ (0 bytes) () 05/19/2023 postreply 03:58:00

• 對。基於所謂互諒原則，更基於各得其利的政治考量，彼此合作，缺一不可。而今兩君皆已作古。謝謝AP! -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 05/19/2023 postreply 06:30:32

• I like it when you throw doubt on the Deep State conspiracy. -寒葦- ♀ (0 bytes) () 05/18/2023 postreply 21:20:15

• Thanks, Wei Wei. All I ask is proof. No proof, all doubt. -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 05/18/2023 postreply 21:22:43

• Conspiracy theories are oversold. Deep State blah blah blah. -寒葦- ♀ (0 bytes) () 05/18/2023 postreply 21:26:48

• Hahaha! Seriously, we need a dose of skepticism. -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 05/18/2023 postreply 21:29:30

• BTW,do you believe that George Washington had a spy network? -寒葦- ♀ (0 bytes) () 05/18/2023 postreply 21:31:35

• Are you referring to the novel "The Inner Circle"? -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 05/18/2023 postreply 21:33:24

• Now I can say, literally, we're on the same page. -寒葦- ♀ (0 bytes) () 05/18/2023 postreply 21:34:29

• You're so well-read in literature and history. Amazing. -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 05/18/2023 postreply 21:36:36

• You're making me blush, again. -寒葦- ♀ (0 bytes) () 05/18/2023 postreply 21:48:27

• Maybe you're showing your true color. -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 05/18/2023 postreply 21:49:19

• Man, have you ever run out of humor? -寒葦- ♀ (0 bytes) () 05/18/2023 postreply 21:50:47

• Nope. And you? -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 05/18/2023 postreply 21:51:15

• Hardly, when you're my interlocutor. -寒葦- ♀ (0 bytes) () 05/18/2023 postreply 21:55:00

• Same here. -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 05/18/2023 postreply 21:55:35

• CIA的大本營在VA，開車經過時，老想起電影裏麵，他們訓練成員，很嚴格。。。。。。。。。。。 -lovecat08- ♀ (0 bytes) () 05/18/2023 postreply 21:32:27

• 看過DC spy 博物館，就有Mclean CIA的人賣情報給俄國spy，把東西放在自家垃圾桶裏，被抓到了。。。。。。 -lovecat08- ♀ (0 bytes) () 05/18/2023 postreply 21:36:34

• 晚安！秋蘭。 -lovecat08- ♀ (0 bytes) () 05/18/2023 postreply 21:39:14

• Goodnight, Madam Cat! -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 05/18/2023 postreply 21:44:29

• I rely on open sources. We're taxpayers. We should care. -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 05/18/2023 postreply 21:43:56

• 小時候我家有一本書《中央情報局內幕故事》，內部讀物，第一次對中情局有認識，想當女特務，詳看早期博 -花似鹿蔥- ♀ (164 bytes) () 05/19/2023 postreply 05:19:57

• 讓我找來看看。謝謝蔥姐！ -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 05/19/2023 postreply 06:26:49

• You must be a nocturnal netizen. -shuier- ♀ (0 bytes) () 05/19/2023 postreply 07:17:32

• Not quite true. Both of us are here in the morning. -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 05/19/2023 postreply 07:18:27

• Haha, true. I didn't expect you to write sth about the CIA. -shuier- ♀ (0 bytes) () 05/19/2023 postreply 07:19:51

• From now on, you'd better expect the unexpected. -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 05/19/2023 postreply 07:20:54

• You know, you're one of my favorite interlocutors. -shuier- ♀ (0 bytes) () 05/19/2023 postreply 07:23:55

• Same here. Working from home? -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 05/19/2023 postreply 07:24:44

• Fortunately, yes. I'll be right back. -shuier- ♀ (0 bytes) () 05/19/2023 postreply 07:25:47

• Take your time. -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 05/19/2023 postreply 07:26:38