CIA competence may be the ultimate tinfoil

[cthulu2016]

We assume, 24/7/365, that the CIA knows all sorts of stuff.

But when we see the proposition tested it often turns out that they don't have the first clue about anything.

Fall of the Soviet Union. 9/11. Pakistan testing a bomb. North Korea testing a bomb. Pretty much everything about Iraq.

Everything is a surprise. They really do appear to be less informed than one might hope.

So we must devise conspiracy theories to explain how the CIA is pretending to be clueless while efficiently in control of everything in the world.

Isn't the simpler explanation that they just don't know shit?

[snagglepuss]

1. he book to read is Joseph Trento's The secret History of the CIA 1946-1989 (2001)

Trento argues that the "CIA has been a colossal failure, outmaneuvered by its enemies, penetrated by the KGB, and duped at every turn".

[librechik]

2. they know a lot of shit. Trouble is, it's all shit.

Nobody seems to have a handle on intelligence which could actually help us and save our lives. Instead they collect all our emails and try to combe through them for cluez. And these h guys they choose, there always seem to be some other agenda going on (Bush Sr. & Iran) or they are crazy (Dulles) or totally incompetent. What a farce the CIA HAS ALWAYS BEEN!

read "Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA" by Tim Weiner if you don't believe me. You'll lose your lunch for a year.


http://www.amazon.com/Legacy-Ashes-The-History-CIA/dp/0307389006/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1352752759&sr=8-1&keywords=Legacy+of+Ashes

[justiceischeap]

3. My feeling about the CIA is that they DO know lots of shit

but most of it isn't useful in a national security setting--at least the big thing that matters. What the CIA represents to me is a license to kill without having to answer for it.

[enough]

4. May I recommend a book: LEGACY OF ASHES by Tim Weiner.

A fascinating and very readable history of the CIA.

http://www.amazon.com/Legacy-Ashes-History-Tim-Weiner/dp/0307389006

[Gin]

5. And...an unlimited budget to do whatever they want.

[DollarBillHines]

6. Basically, CIA is all over the page.

Some of their ops make perfect sense, some make you ask if there is really anything "there", and the rest are WTF?.