The History of CIA war crimes and similar atrocities.

1947:
Greece — President Truman requests military aid to Greece to
support right-wing forces fighting communist rebels. For the rest of the
Cold War, Washington and the CIA will back notorious Greek leaders with
deplorable human rights records.

1948:
Italy — The CIA corrupts democratic elections in Italy, where
Italian communists threaten to win the elections. The CIA buys votes,
broadcasts propaganda, threatens and beats up opposition leaders, and
infiltrates and disrupts their organizations. It works -- the communists
are defeated.

1949:
Radio Free Europe — The CIA creates its first major propaganda
outlet, Radio Free Europe. Over the next several decades, its broadcasts
are so blatantly false that for a time it is considered illegal to
publish transcripts of them in the U.S.

Operation MOCKINGBIRD — The CIA begins recruiting American news
organizations and journalists to become spies and disseminators of
propaganda. The effort is headed by Frank Wisner, Allan Dulles, Richard
Helms and Philip Graham. Graham is publisher of The Washington Post, which becomes a major CIA player. Eventually, the CIA’s media assets will include ABC, NBC, CBS, Time, Newsweek,
Associated Press, United Press International, Reuters, Hearst
Newspapers, Scripps-Howard, Copley News Service and more. By the CIA’s
own admission, at least 25 organizations and 400 journalists will become
CIA assets.

1953:


Iran – CIA overthrows the democratically elected
Mohammed Mossadegh in a military coup, after he threatened to
nationalize British oil. The CIA replaces him with a dictator, the Shah
of Iran, whose secret police, SAVAK, is as brutal as the Gestapo.


Operation MK-ULTRA — Inspired by North Korea’s
brainwashing program, the CIA begins experiments on mind control. The
most notorious part of this project involves giving LSD and other drugs
to American subjects without their knowledge or against their will,
causing several to commit suicide. However, the operation involves far
more than this. Funded in part by the Rockefeller and Ford foundations,
research includes propaganda, brainwashing, public relations,
advertising, hypnosis, and other forms of suggestion.
1954:


Guatemala — CIA overthrows the democratically elected
Jacob Arbenz in a military coup. Arbenz has threatened to nationalize
the Rockefeller-owned United Fruit Company, in which CIA Director Allen
Dulles also owns stock. Arbenz is replaced with a series of right-wing
dictators whose bloodthirsty policies will kill over 100,000 Guatemalans
in the next 40 years.
1954-1958:


North Vietnam — CIA officer Edward Lansdale spends four
years trying to overthrow the communist government of North Vietnam,
using all the usual dirty tricks. The CIA also attempts to legitimize a
tyrannical puppet regime in South Vietnam, headed by Ngo Dinh Diem.
These efforts fail to win the hearts and minds of the South Vietnamese
because the Diem government is opposed to true democracy, land reform
and poverty reduction measures. The CIA’s continuing failure results in
escalating American intervention, culminating in the Vietnam War.
1956:


Hungary — Radio Free Europe incites Hungary to revolt
by broadcasting Khruschev’s Secret Speech, in which he denounced Stalin.
It also hints that American aid will help the Hungarians fight. This
aid fails to materialize as Hungarians launch a doomed armed revolt,
which only invites a major Soviet invasion. The conflict kills 7,000
Soviets and 30,000 Hungarians.
1957-1973:


Laos — The CIA carries out approximately one coup per
year trying to nullify Laos’ democratic elections. The problem is the
Pathet Lao, a leftist group with enough popular support to be a member
of any coalition government. In the late 50s, the CIA even creates an
"Armee Clandestine" of Asian mercenaries to attack the Pathet Lao. After
the CIA’s army suffers numerous defeats, the U.S. starts bombing,
dropping more bombs on Laos than all the U.S. bombs dropped in World War
II. A quarter of all Laotians will eventually become refugees, many
living in caves.
1959:


Haiti — The U.S. military helps "Papa Doc" Duvalier
become dictator of Haiti. He creates his own private police force, the
"Tonton Macoutes," who terrorize the population with machetes. They will
kill over 100,000 during the Duvalier family reign. The U.S. does not
protest their dismal human rights record.
1961:


The Bay of Pigs — The CIA sends 1,500 Cuban exiles to
invade Castro’s Cuba. But "Operation Mongoose" fails, due to poor
planning, security and backing. The planners had imagined that the
invasion will spark a popular uprising against Castro -– which never
happens. A promised American air strike also never occurs. This is the
CIA’s first public setback, causing President Kennedy to fire CIA
Director Allen Dulles.


Dominican Republic — The CIA assassinates Rafael
Trujillo, a murderous dictator Washington has supported since 1930.
Trujillo’s business interests have grown so large (about 60 percent of
the economy) that they have begun competing with American business
interests.


Ecuador — The CIA-backed military forces the
democratically elected President Jose Velasco to resign. Vice President
Carlos Arosemana replaces him; the CIA fills the now vacant vice
presidency with its own man.


Congo (Zaire) — The CIA assassinates the democratically
elected Patrice Lumumba. However, public support for Lumumba’s politics
runs so high that the CIA cannot clearly install his opponents in
power. Four years of political turmoil follow.
1963:


Dominican Republic — The CIA overthrows the democratically elected Juan Bosch in a military coup. The CIA installs a repressive, right-wing junta.


Ecuador — A CIA-backed military coup overthrows
President Arosemana, whose independent (not socialist) policies have
become unacceptable to Washington. A military junta assumes command,
cancels the 1964 elections, and begins abusing human rights.
1964:


Brazil — A CIA-backed military coup overthrows the
democratically elected government of Joao Goulart. The junta that
replaces it will, in the next two decades, become one of the most
bloodthirsty in history. General Castelo Branco will create Latin
America’s first death squads, or bands of secret police who hunt down
"communists" for torture, interrogation and murder. Often these
"communists" are no more than Branco’s political opponents. Later it is
revealed that the CIA trains the death squads.
1965:


Indonesia — The CIA overthrows the democratically
elected Sukarno with a military coup. The CIA has been trying to
eliminate Sukarno since 1957, using everything from attempted
assassination to sexual intrigue, for nothing more than his declaring
neutrality in the Cold War. His successor, General Suharto, will
massacre between 500,000 to 1 million civilians accused of being
"communist." The CIA supplies the names of countless suspects.


Dominican Republic — A popular rebellion breaks out,
promising to reinstall Juan Bosch as the country’s elected leader. The
revolution is crushed when U.S. Marines land to uphold the military
regime by force. The CIA directs everything behind the scenes.


Greece — With the CIA’s backing, the king removes
George Papandreous as prime minister. Papandreous has failed to
vigorously support U.S. interests in Greece.


Congo (Zaire) — A CIA-backed military coup installs
Mobutu Sese Seko as dictator. The hated and repressive Mobutu exploits
his desperately poor country for billions.
1966:


The Ramparts Affair — The radical magazine Ramparts
begins a series of unprecedented anti-CIA articles. Among their scoops:
the CIA has paid the University of Michigan $25 million dollars to hire
"professors" to train South Vietnamese students in covert police
methods. MIT and other universities have received similar payments. Ramparts
also reveals that the National Students’ Association is a CIA front.
Students are sometimes recruited through blackmail and bribery,
including draft deferments.
1967:


Greece — A CIA-backed military coup overthrows the
government two days before the elections. The favorite to win was George
Papandreous, the liberal candidate. During the next six years, the
"reign of the colonels" — backed by the CIA — will usher in the
widespread use of torture and murder against political opponents. When a
Greek ambassador objects to President Johnson about U.S. plans for
Cypress, Johnson tells him: "Fuck your parliament and your
constitution."


Operation PHEONIX — The CIA helps South Vietnamese
agents identify and then murder alleged Viet Cong leaders operating in
South Vietnamese villages. According to a 1971 congressional report,
this operation killed about 20,000 "Viet Cong."
1968:


Operation CHAOS — The CIA has been illegally spying on
American citizens since 1959, but with Operation CHAOS, President
Johnson dramatically boosts the effort. CIA agents go undercover as
student radicals to spy on and disrupt campus organizations protesting
the Vietnam War. They are searching for Russian instigators, which they
never find. CHAOS will eventually spy on 7,000 individuals and 1,000
organizations.


Bolivia — A CIA-organized military operation captures
legendary guerilla Che Guevara. The CIA wants to keep him alive for
interrogation, but the Bolivian government executes him to prevent
worldwide calls for clemency.
1969:


Uruguay — The notorious CIA torturer Dan Mitrione
arrives in Uruguay, a country torn with political strife. Whereas
right-wing forces previously used torture only as a last resort,
Mitrione convinces them to use it as a routine, widespread practice.
"The precise pain, in the precise place, in the precise amount, for the
desired effect," is his motto. The torture techniques he teaches to the
death squads rival the Nazis’. He eventually becomes so feared that
revolutionaries will kidnap and murder him a year later.

1970:


Cambodia — The CIA overthrows Prince Sahounek, who is
highly popular among Cambodians for keeping them out of the Vietnam War.
He is replaced by CIA puppet Lon Nol, who immediately throws Cambodian
troops into battle. This unpopular move strengthens once minor
opposition parties like the Khmer Rouge, which achieves power in 1975
and massacres millions of its own people.
1971:


Bolivia — After half a decade of CIA-inspired political
turmoil, a CIA-backed military coup overthrows the leftist President
Juan Torres. In the next two years, dictator Hugo Banzer will have over
2,000 political opponents arrested without trial, then tortured, raped
and executed.


Haiti — "Papa Doc" Duvalier dies, leaving his 19-year
old son "Baby Doc" Duvalier the dictator of Haiti. His son continues his
bloody reign with full knowledge of the CIA.
1972:
Wagergate Break-in — President Nixon sends in a team of burglars
to wiretap Democratic offices at Watergate. The team members have
extensive CIA histories, including James McCord, E. Howard Hunt and five
of the Cuban burglars. They work for the Committee to Reelect the
President (CREEP), which does dirty work like disrupting Democratic
campaigns and laundering Nixon’s illegal campaign contributions. CREEP’s
activities are funded and organized by another CIA front, the Mullen
Company.
1973:


Chile — The CIA overthrows and assassinates Salvador
Allende, Latin America’s first democratically elected socialist leader.
The problems begin when Allende nationalizes American-owned firms in
Chile. ITT offers the CIA $1 million for a coup (reportedly refused).
The CIA replaces Allende with General Augusto Pinochet, who will torture
and murder thousands of his own countrymen in a crackdown on labor
leaders and the political left.
Watergate Scandal — The CIA’s main collaborating newspaper in America, The Washington Post,
reports Nixon’s crimes long before any other newspaper takes up the
subject. The two reporters, Woodward and Bernstein, make almost no
mention of the CIA’s many fingerprints all over the scandal. It is later
revealed that Woodward was a Naval intelligence briefer to the White
House, and knows many important intelligence figures, including General
Alexander Haig. His main source, "Deep Throat," is probably one of
those.


CIA Director Helms Fired — President Nixon fires CIA
Director Richard Helms for failing to help cover up the Watergate
scandal. Helms and Nixon have always disliked each other. The new CIA
director is William Colby, who is relatively more open to CIA reform.
1974:


CHAOS exposed — Pulitzer prize winning journalist
Seymour Hersh publishes a story about Operation CHAOS, the domestic
surveillance and infiltration of anti-war and civil rights groups in the
U.S. The story sparks national outrage.
1975:


Australia — The CIA helps topple the democratically
elected, left-leaning government of Prime Minister Edward Whitlam. The
CIA does this by giving an ultimatum to its Governor-General, John Kerr.
Kerr, a longtime CIA collaborator, exercises his constitutional right
to dissolve the Whitlam government. The Governor-General is a largely
ceremonial position appointed by the Queen; the Prime Minister is
democratically elected. The use of this archaic and never-used law stuns
the nation.


Angola — Eager to demonstrate American military resolve
after its defeat in Vietnam, Henry Kissinger launches a CIA-backed war
in Angola. Contrary to Kissinger’s assertions, Angola is a country of
little strategic importance and not seriously threatened by communism.
The CIA backs the brutal leader of UNITAS, Jonas Savimbi. This polarizes
Angolan politics and drives his opponents into the arms of Cuba and the
Soviet Union for survival. Congress will cut off funds in 1976, but the
CIA is able to run the war off the books until 1984, when funding is
legalized again. This entirely pointless war kills over 300,000
Angolans.
1979:


Iran — The CIA fails to predict the fall of the Shah of
Iran, a longtime CIA puppet, and the rise of Muslim fundamentalists who
are furious at the CIA’s backing of SAVAK, the Shah’s bloodthirsty
secret police. In revenge, the Muslims take 52 Americans hostage in the
U.S. embassy in Tehran.


Afghanistan — The Soviets invade Afghanistan. The CIA
immediately begins supplying arms to any faction willing to fight the
occupying Soviets. Such indiscriminate arming means that when the
Soviets leave Afghanistan, civil war will erupt. Also, fanatical Muslim
extremists now possess state-of-the-art weaponry. One of these is Sheik
Abdel Rahman, who will become involved in the World Trade Center bombing
in New York.


El Salvador — An idealistic group of young military
officers, repulsed by the massacre of the poor, overthrows the
right-wing government. However, the U.S. compels the inexperienced
officers to include many of the old guard in key positions in their new
government. Soon, things are back to "normal" — the military government
is repressing and killing poor civilian protesters. Many of the young
military and civilian reformers, finding themselves powerless, resign in
disgust.


Nicaragua — Anastasios Samoza II, the CIA-backed
dictator, falls. The Marxist Sandinistas take over government, and they
are initially popular because of their commitment to land and
anti-poverty reform. Samoza had a murderous and hated personal army
called the National Guard. Remnants of the Guard will become the
Contras, who fight a CIA-backed guerilla war against the Sandinista
government throughout the 1980s.
1980:


El Salvador — The Archbishop of San Salvador, Oscar
Romero, pleads with President Carter "Christian to Christian" to stop
aiding the military government slaughtering his people. Carter refuses.
Shortly afterwards, right-wing leader Roberto D’Aubuisson has Romero
shot through the heart while saying Mass. The country soon dissolves
into civil war, with the peasants in the hills fighting against the
military government. The CIA and U.S. Armed Forces supply the government
with overwhelming military and intelligence superiority. CIA-trained
death squads roam the countryside, committing atrocities like that of El
Mazote in 1982, where they massacre between 700 and 1000 men, women and
children. By 1992, some 63,000 Salvadorans will be killed.
1983:


Honduras — The CIA gives Honduran military officers the Human Resource Exploitation Training Manual – 1983,
which teaches how to torture people. Honduras’ notorious "Battalion
316" then uses these techniques, with the CIA’s full knowledge, on
thousands of leftist dissidents. At least 184 are murdered.


1986:


Eugene Hasenfus — Nicaragua shoots down a C-123
transport plane carrying military supplies to the Contras. The lone
survivor, Eugene Hasenfus, turns out to be a CIA employee, as are the
two dead pilots. The airplane belongs to Southern Air Transport, a CIA
front. The incident makes a mockery of President Reagan’s claims that
the CIA is not illegally arming the Contras.


Iran/Contra Scandal — Although the details have long
been known, the Iran/Contra scandal finally captures the media’s
attention in 1986. Congress holds hearings, and several key figures
(like Oliver North) lie under oath to protect the intelligence
community. CIA Director William Casey dies of brain cancer before
Congress can question him. All reforms enacted by Congress after the
scandal are purely cosmetic.


Haiti — Rising popular revolt in Haiti means that "Baby
Doc" Duvalier will remain "President for Life" only if he has a short
one. The U.S., which hates instability in a puppet country, flies the
despotic Duvalier to the South of France for a comfortable retirement.
The CIA then rigs the upcoming elections in favor of another right-wing
military strongman. However, violence keeps the country in political
turmoil for another four years. The CIA tries to strengthen the military
by creating the National Intelligence Service (SIN), which suppresses
popular revolt through torture and assassination.
1989:


Panama — The U.S. invades Panama to overthrow a
dictator of its own making, General Manuel Noriega. Noriega has been on
the CIA’s payroll since 1966, and has been transporting drugs with the
CIA’s knowledge since 1972. By the late 80s, Noriega’s growing
independence and intransigence have angered Washington… so out he goes.
1990:


Haiti — Competing against 10 comparatively wealthy
candidates, leftist priest Jean-Bertrand Aristide captures 68 percent of
the vote. After only eight months in power, however, the CIA-backed
military deposes him. More military dictators brutalize the country, as
thousands of Haitian refugees escape the turmoil in barely seaworthy
boats. As popular opinion calls for Aristide’s return, the CIA begins a
disinformation campaign painting the courageous priest as mentally
unstable.
1991:


The Gulf War — The U.S. liberates Kuwait from Iraq. But
Iraq’s dictator, Saddam Hussein, is another creature of the CIA. With
U.S. encouragement, Hussein invaded Iran in 1980. During this costly
eight-year war, the CIA built up Hussein’s forces with sophisticated
arms, intelligence, training and financial backing. This cemented
Hussein’s power at home, allowing him to crush the many internal
rebellions that erupted from time to time, sometimes with poison gas. It
also gave him all the military might he needed to conduct further
adventurism — in Kuwait, for example.


The Fall of the Soviet Union — The CIA fails to predict
this most important event of the Cold War. This suggests that it has
been so busy undermining governments that it hasn’t been doing its
primary job: gathering and analyzing information. The fall of the Soviet
Union also robs the CIA of its reason for existence: fighting
communism. This leads some to accuse the CIA of intentionally failing to
predict the downfall of the Soviet Union. Curiously, the intelligence
community’s budget is not significantly reduced after the demise of
communism.
1992:


Economic Espionage — In the years following the end of
the Cold War, the CIA is increasingly used for economic espionage. This
involves stealing the technological secrets of competing foreign
companies and giving them to American ones. Given the CIA’s clear
preference for dirty tricks over mere information gathering, the
possibility of serious criminal behavior is very great indeed.
1993:


Haiti — The chaos in Haiti grows so bad that President
Clinton has no choice but to remove the Haitian military dictator, Raoul
Cedras, on threat of U.S. invasion. The U.S. occupiers do not arrest
Haiti’s military leaders for crimes against humanity, but instead ensure
their safety and rich retirements. Aristide is returned to power only
after being forced to accept an agenda favorable to the country’s ruling
class.