I have also widened the scope of the inquiry to include a larger slice of CIA political and propaganda activity, which was deliberately excluded from the earlier work. Thus the agency’s interventions in elections in a number of countries, its association with at least one major U.S. domestic controversy, and its active propaganda programs are explored in some detail. So are the initiatives of both presidents Bush (though with less detail on the younger) and those of the Clinton era. This treatment is coupled with another major theme already alluded to: a systematic examination of the functioning of White House control mechanisms for covert operations, and an attempt to contrast them with congressional oversight efforts. Finally, for the first time this book examines covert operations from a foreign policy perspective and places them solidly within the context of American diplomacy.

  The story of the secret wars is an important component of the American experience in the years since World War II. It is also a feature of the histories of those many lands where the secret warriors plied their trade. Neither the Cold War years nor the present era can be properly understood without taking this story into account. The time has come for taking stock, and that evaluation may begin here.

  Major Figures in the Book

  (comprising primarily senior CIA officers, government officials, foreign individuals, and intelligence officers who appear at more than one point in the narrative)

  JAMES L. ADKINS: Paramilitary specialist who served with the Hmong in Laos and rose to lead the Nicaraguan Operations Group during the contra war.

  PRINCE TURKI AL-FAISAL: Chief of Saudi Arabian intelligence for two and a half decades, Prince Turki cooperated on several CIA projects, most notably Afghanistan and Nicaragua, before becoming Saudi ambassador to London and later to the United States.

  RICHARD ALLEN: National security adviser to President Reagan.

  ROBERT AMORY: Deputy director for intelligence at the CIA, 1953–1962.

  MANUEL ARTIME: Cuban exile leader at the Bay of Pigs, and again in the mid-1960s after being released from a Cuban prison, when he took part in a CIA project to create a new exile force.

  GEORGE AURELL: Far East Division chief for the CIA, supervising covert action projects in Burma and China; station chief in the Philippines during political action there in the late 1950s.

  HOWARD T. BANE: CIA clandestine services officer who had roles in the Tibet project and, as station chief in Ghana, in CIA African operations.

  TRACY L. BARNES: Among the original secret warriors, Barnes served with the OSS and joined the Psychological Strategy Board staff, then later the CIA, playing major roles in covert operations in Guatemala and against Cuba.

  JOSE BASULTO: Cuban exile fighter who continued efforts against Castro for decades after the CIA gave up.

  RICHARD M. BISSELL: Special assistant to Allen W. Dulles, Bissell developed the U-2 and SR-71 aircraft for CIA, managed development of reconnaissance satellites, and played an increasing role in covert actions from Guatemala through the Bay of Pigs, rising to head the Directorate of Operations.

  GEN. WILLIAM BOYKIN: An operator for Special Forces Operational Detachment Delta during the Iran hostage rescue mission, Boykin’s career with Special Forces continued through the second Bush administration.

  THOMAS BRADEN: Special assistant to Director Allen Dulles and creator of CIA’s International Organizations Division.

  WILLIAM V. BROE: Latin American Division chief who supervised the effort to keep Salvador Allende from assuming the presidency of Chile, Broe’s later actions helped create the legal case against Richard Helms for perjury before Congress on this same matter.

  JOHN A. BROSS: Longtime CIA officer involved with European operations, managing the DO for Allen Dulles, and senior adviser to Bill Casey.

  WINTHROP BROWN: American ambassador to India during the first part of the Tibetan operation, and to Laos at the inception of the secret war there.

  DAVID K. BRUCE: After gaining an intelligence background by heading OSS operations in the European theater, Bruce became a professional diplomat and adviser to presidents. He served as ambassador to London during the CIA operation against Guyana, and worked with the PFIAB.

  ZBIGNIEW BRZEZINSKI: National security adviser to President Jimmy Carter, 1977–1981.

  WILLIAM BUCKLEY: Paramilitary specialist who worked on Eastern Europe, the Bay of Pigs, Laos, and Pakistan; station chief in postwar Laos; deputy chief of counterterrorism staff until sent to Beirut as station chief, where he was kidnapped in 1984 and died under interrogation a year later.

  MCGEORGE BUNDY: National security adviser to Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, 1961–1966.

  ADM. ARLEIGH BURKE: Naval officer who served as chief of naval operations and arranged cooperation for Indonesia and the Bay of Pigs; Burke also became a member of the Taylor Board that reviewed the conduct of the Cuban operation.

  FORBES BURNHAM: Guyanese political leader who benefited from CIA covert operations carried out between 1962 and 1964, and continuing agency political action until 1968.

  GEN. CHARLES P. CABELL: Seconded from the air force, Cabell served as deputy director of central intelligence under Allen Dulles, 1953–1961, and had important roles in covert operations in Indonesia and Cuba.

  FRANK CARLUCCI: Exposed to covert action as a young diplomat in the Congo, Carlucci rose through work at many government agencies until being brought directly into intelligence work as deputy director of central intelligence in the Carter administration; he remained concerned with this activity in the Reagan-era Pentagon, and then as national security adviser to President Reagan.

  HARRY L. CARR: British intelligence officer who directed covert operations against Russia in the Baltic and cooperated with CIA’s efforts in these areas.

  GEORGE CARROLL: Covert operations specialist who worked in the CIA project in Iran and later became baron heading the Far East Division.

  PHILLIP CARVER: Clandestine services officer who transferred to the analytical side of the CIA after his cover was blown in an abortive coup in South Vietnam; Carver became the agency’s senior officer on Vietnam affairs.

  WILLIAM J. CASEY: A veteran of OSS operations, Casey made his fortune in business and served briefly on President Ford’s PFIAB; he headed Reagan’s 1980 political campaign organization and was rewarded with appointment as director of central intelligence.

  FIDEL CASTRO: Revolutionary leader, then dictator of Cuba, who became the target of many CIA operations.

  GEORGE W. CAVE: Clandestine services officer who opened the CIA station in Afghanistan in 1957, headed stations in Iran and Saudi Arabia, ran a unit to support the Iran hostage rescue mission, was deputy chief of NE, and headed a policy coordination staff. In retirement Cave became involved in the Iran-Contra affair.

  HAROLD CHIPMAN: Covert operations specialist who worked on Cuban projects and Vietnam.

  DUANE R. (“DEWEY”) CLARRIDGE: Clandestine services officer from the Near East and South Asian tribe, Clarridge served in Nepal, India, and Turkey, led the CIA station in Rome, then the Latin America Division and the Counterterrorism Center.

  CLARK M. CLIFFORD: Adviser to Presidents Truman, Kennedy, and Johnson, Clifford helped draft the law that created the CIA, served on the PFIAB for some years, and was secretary of defense in 1968.

  RAY L. CLINE: Officer who held both operational and analytical posts at CIA, Cline served as chief of station on Taiwan during Chinese and Tibet operations, headed the Directorate of Intelligence during Mongoose and the Cuban Missile Crisis, and later led the State Department’s INR.

  THOMAS C. CLINES: Paramilitary specialist who worked on Cuba operations and in Laos; in retirement became involved with “private benefactors” covert operation with Nicaraguan contras.

  CHARLES G. (“CHUCK”) COGAN: Moving between African and Middle Eastern assignments, Cogan was station chief in Jordan and headed the NE division; he was involved in covert operations in the Congo, the Iran hostage crisis, and Afghanistan.

  WILLIAM E. COLBY: Director of central intelligence during the critical congressional investigations of the 1970s, Colby had risen through CIA ranks, working on Soviet operations, the Italian political action, Vietnamese operations, and general Asian activities.

  MILES COPELAND: Covert operations specialist for the CIA in the Middle East, especially in Egypt and Lebanon.

  THOMAS G. CORCORAN: Washington lawyer who represented Civil Air Transport when it was acquired by the CIA, and United Fruit in preparations for the CIA action in Guatemala.

  ALFRED T. COX: An experienced covert operator, Cox oversaw CIA’s interests in Civil Air Transport, served as chief of base in Hong Kong and on the paramilitary staff at headquarters before and during the Bay of Pigs, and led the Miami station at the beginning of Project Mongoose.

  JAMES M. CRITCHFIELD: CIA officer who had a major role in the creation of the German intelligence service, helped establish its connections with the CIA, and then moved into CIA Middle Eastern operations.

  WILLIAM J. DAUGHERTY: An agency hostage taken in Iran during his first tour, with his cover blown Daugherty served in headquarters management positions on covert operations staffs.

  ROBERT K. DAVIS: Clandestine services officer who arranged cooperation of Guatemalan authorities with the CIA’s effort to train anti-Castro exiles to invade Cuba; he later served as chief of station in Peru.

  PEER DE SILVA: Operations officer who managed CIA initiatives against Russia in the Far East, served in Austria, and headed CIA stations in South Korea, South Vietnam, and Thailand, then became the first CIA special assistant for Vietnam Affairs.

  JOHN DEUTCH: Director of central intelligence in the mid-1990s.

  JOHN J. (“JACK”) DEVINE: An operations officer in Chile during the CIA covert action there, Devine rose steadily, leading the agency’s Iran operations group, its Afghan task force, stations in three Latin countries, Rome and London, and the Latin America Division, and served as associate deputy director for operations.

  LAWRENCE R. DEVLIN: Twice served as CIA’s station chief in the Congo, also as chief of station in Laos and head of the Africa Division.

  GEN. JAMES H. DOOLITTLE: Air force general who reviewed court activities for President Eisenhower, then served for many years on the advisory boards PBCFIA and PFIAB.

  ALLEN W. DULLES: A key figure in CIA history, Dulles served with the OSS, advocated creation of a peacetime intelligence agency, became deputy director for operations, then deputy and director of central intelligence and led the CIA through the Eisenhower years and into the Kennedy administration.

  JOHN FOSTER DULLES: Lawyer and diplomat, brother of Allen, Dulles served as secretary of state under President Eisenhower and played a larger part in covert operations than previously acknowledged.

  RALPH A. DUNGAN: Political adviser to Presidents Kennedy and Johnson whose special interest in Latin America led to his posting as ambassador to Chile, where he became involved in CIA projects.

  SHEFFIELD EDWARDS: Chief of the CIA’s Office of Security, Edwards became involved in assassination plots against Fidel Castro.

  RUDY ENDERS: Paramilitary specialist and boatman, Enders made his mark as a maritime officer with the Miami base on Cuban operations; later in the Vietnam War he rose to a senior field officer and by the 1980s headed CIA’s Special Activities Division, where he played a major role in the mining of Nicaraguan ports during the contra war.

  JACOB D. ESTERLINE: An important figure in CIA Latin American operations, Esterline was deputy chief of the task force that carried out the Guatemala covert operation, and led the task force that carried out the Bay of Pigs; he served as chief of station in Panama and deputy chief of the Western Hemisphere Division, and headed CIA’s Miami base.

  DESMOND FITZGERALD: A primary figure in covert activities from the early 1950s to the mid-1960s, FitzGerald rose to head the CIA Directorate of Operations.

  JOHN KENNETH GALBRAITH: American ambassador to India who opposed the CIA project in Tibet and helped President Kennedy decide to restructure this endeavor.

  ROBERT M. GATES: Officer from the analytical side of the CIA who rose through the ranks to become deputy director for intelligence, then DDCI under Bill Casey; he left to become deputy national security adviser during the first Bush administration but returned as director of central intelligence until retiring in January 1993.

  LLOYD GEORGE: Far East Division chief for the CIA during the Korean War.

  JUSTIN F. GLEICHAUF: A CIA analyst, Gleichauf ran the refugee reception center in Miami that interviewed Cuban exiles for intelligence purposes.

  GEN. ANDREW GOODPASTER: Staff secretary to President Eisenhower, Goodpaster became a key figure, with Gordon Gray, in helping the president keep track of CIA activities.

  GORDON L. GRAY: A key figure in U.S. intelligence history, Gray served as secretary of the army, helped establish the Special Forces, led the Psychological Strategy Board, consulted for President Eisenhower, became Eisenhower’s national security adviser, and worked on the PFIAB for more than a decade.

  ERNESTO (“CHE”) GUEVARA: Argentinian doctor and early Castroite leader in Cuba, Guevara attempted to export revolution to Africa and Latin America and became a special target of the CIA.

  ALBERT HAKIM: Iranian businessman who helped with the Hostage Rescue mission and later became involved in a series of ventures with Richard V. Secord that ensnared them in the Iran-Contra affair.

  SAM HALPERN: Covert operations specialist with the CIA’s Far East Division, later executive assistant to the deputy director for operations.

  COL. ALBERT HANEY: Chief of station in Korea during the Korean War, Haney later headed the task force that carried out the Guatemala covert action project.

  W. AVERELL HARRIMAN: Adviser to presidents and U.S. diplomat, Harriman assisted Truman, Kennedy, and Johnson, attempting to negotiate an end to the AIOC crisis in Iran in the early 1950s and the civil war in Laos in the early 1960s, both of which formed episodes in the secret war.

  JOHN L. HART: A covert operator in the classic CIA mold, Hart worked on Soviet operations, headed the Tibet branch of the FE Division during that operation, and later served as station chief in South Vietnam at the height of the war there.

  WILLIAM K. HARVEY: Covert operations specialist who led the CIA base in Berlin through much of the 1950s, returned to headquarters to run the agency’s assassinations unit, then headed the task force that carried out Project Mongoose and later the agency’s station in Rome.

  JOHN HASEY: Operations specialist in Laos who built ties to Gen. Phoumi Nosavan, complicating U.S. policy, and then worked briefly in the Congo.

  COL. JACK HAWKINS: Marine officer seconded to CIA as chief of the paramilitary branch of the task force that carried out the Bay of Pigs invasion; later deputy to the head of the Pentagon office responsible for cooperation with the CIA.

  HENRY D. HECKSCHER: A major figure in CIA operations, Heckscher served in Berlin during the 1953 riots there, worked on the Guatemala covert operation, and headed CIA stations engaged in covert operations in Laos, Japan, and Chile.

  RICHARD M. HELMS: A key figure in CIA history, Helms rose through the ranks of OSS and SSU to CIA, heading the German Division, the Operations Directorate, and the intelligence community as a whole for Presidents Johnson and Nixon.

  PAUL B. HENZE: A psychological operations specialist, Henze worked as an analyst and deputy division chief for Radio Free Europe, a case officer and station chief in Turkey and Ethiopia, and on the Brzezinski NSC staff.

  ADM. ROSCOE H. HILLENKOETTER: Director of central intelligence from the Berlin Blockade to the onset of the Korean war, Hillenkoetter presided over the creation of the OPC and its integration into the CIA sytem.

  PAUL HOLDEN: Chief pilot for Civil Air Transport’s detachment assisting the French in Indochina, Holden went on to fly for the CIA in its Indonesia project.

  RICHARD HOLM: A paramilitary officer who served in Asia and Africa, notably in Hong Kong, Laos, and the Congo; later he led the Counterterrorism staff, stations in Brussels and Paris, and advised on the Directorate of Operations post–Cold War reorganization.

  FRANK HOLOBER: A Far East Division officer, Holober worked on operations against mainland China and led the task force carrying out the CIA project in Tibet.

  LAWRENCE HOUSTON: General counsel to the CIA from its inception through the early 1970s, his cautionary views on the legal authorities for covert operations were never adequately taken into account.

  GEN. JOHN E. HULL: Army general who advised CIA analysts in the early 1950s; trusted by President Eisenhower and appointed second chairman of the PBCFIA.

  E. HOWARD HUNT: Among the major figures in CIA political action, Hunt played roles in psychological warfare and covert operations in Albania, Guatemala, and Cuba, headed agency stations in Latin America, and became involved with the Nixon White House in the Watergate scandal.

  FRED IKLE: Undersecretary of defense for policy in the Reagan-era Pentagon, Ikle’s hard-line views contributed to the Casey covert action offensive.

  ADM. BOBBY RAY INMAN: Officer with a long background in naval intelligence, Inman had been an attaché in Sweden, was involved with the Pueblo affair, headed naval intelligence, and had been deputy director of DIA before heading the NSA, from which he was appointed to become deputy director for central intelligence.

  C. D. JACKSON: A propaganda and psychological warfare expert, adviser to President Eisenhower, and executive for the Time-Life Corporation; he conducted the review that led to the termination of the Psychological Strategy Board.

  WILLIAM H. JACKSON: Participated with Allen Dulles in an important early review of U.S. intelligence operations, then served as deputy director of central intelligence under Walter B. Smith, helping with the creation of the Directorate of Operations.

  CHEDDI JAGAN: Guyanese political leader who became the target of CIA covert operations, 1962–1964.

  ROBERT J. (“RED”) JANTZEN: Clandestine services officer who worked in India and Singapore; legendary as station chief in Thailand, Jantzen also led the CIA station in Canada and in retirement became associated with the Nugan Hand Bank.