In the 1950's, the repression of domestic political dissent reached near
hysteria. In the process the CIA's covert operations, already in progress in
Europe, expanded worldwide. By 1953, according to the 1970's Senate
investigation, there were major covert programs under way in 48 countries,
consisting of propaganda, paramilitary, and political action operations. In
1949, the agency's covert action department had about 300 employees and 47
stations. In the same period, the budget for these activities grew from $4.7
million to $82 million. In this paper I will discuss the United States' use of
covert actions using Panama and Nicaragua as examples. I had planned on
writing my paper on Manuel Noriega and his connections with the CIA but
the more I read into him I found the major topic outlying him was much more
interesting. So with that I will continue on with this paper showing my
findings on the CIA and thier covert operations.
Ned's Birthday Party 005
Gen. Manuel Noriega is escorted onto a U.S. Air Fo...
English: Flames engulf a building following the ou...Covert operations have become a way of life and death for millions of
people world wide who have lost their lives to these actions. By 1980, covert
operations were costing billions of dollars. CIA Director William Casey was
quoted as saying "covert actions were the keystone of U.S. policy in the
Third World."(Agee, 2) Throughout the CIA's 45 years, one president after
another has used covert operations to intervene secretly, and sometimes not
so secretly , in the domestic affairs of other countries, presuming their affairs
were ours. Almost always, money was spent for activities to prop up
political forces considered friendly to U.S. interests, or to weaken and destroy
those considered unfriendly or threatening.
The friends were easy to define, they were those who believed and
acted like us, took orders and cooperated. Until the collapse of communism
in Eastern Europe, enemies were also...