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Is the CIA America's '1984'-style 'Big Brother'? | WND | by Richard Blakley
WND EXCLUSIVE
In George Orwell's famous novel, "1984," an oppressive government – symbolized by the phrase "Big Brother" – is continually spying on everyone and manipulating how and what they think.
In many ways, today's Central Intelligence Agency seems to be America's version of "Big Brother" – or perhaps even to exceed it. By multiple reliable accounts, the CIA has been involved in everything from manipulating the media, to trafficking drugs, to flipping governments, to controlling Hollywood, even to participating in the assassination of a U.S. president. And of course, spying on Americans.
Recruiting journalists for spy work
It started long ago. Operation Mockingbird was "a CIA project that recruited journalists to write fake stories promoting government ideas while dispelling communist ones" – or at least that is how it started. The operation began in the 1950s, recruiting "American journalists into a propaganda network," but was expanded to include influencing foreign media as well.
During the 1970s, the U.S. Senate established the "Church Committee" to examine potential abuses by the CIA, the NSA, the FBI and the IRS. Finally, in 2007, about 700 pages of documents pertaining to scandals and misconduct of the agencies during the 1970s were declassified and released by the CIA, and nicknamed "The Family Jewels."
A 1996 Senate Select Committee Intelligence Report details the use of journalists, clergymen and Peace Corps members in intelligence operations. Commenting on the report, former ABC news anchor Ted Koppel stated: "The gathering of intelligence is a difficult, dangerous, and sometimes dirty operation. That is not my judgment. That is what we have repeatedly been told by senior intelligence officers. … When, as they sometimes do, U.S. intelligence officers circumvent or even break American laws, they must reckon with the possibility that they will one day be held to account. If their arguments are persuasive … Congress can be expected to be lenient. … If the CIA must on occasion use the role of an American journalist to conceal one of its operatives and to protect the greater national interest, it will do so, regardless of what is decided by Congress. But let that continue to be in the knowledge that a free press is being endangered and that American law is being broken."
Participating in the assassination of an American president
Independent 2024 presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., whose uncle, President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, was assassinated in 1963, recently stated:"There is overwhelming evidence that the CIA was involved in his murder. … I think it is beyond reasonable doubt at this point. … The evidence is overwhelming that the CIA was involved in the murder, and in the cover-up."
Why would the CIA participate in the assassination of a U.S. president? The answer may never be fully known. However, many cite the fact that President Kennedy, in overseeing the CIA's extensive campaign of terror attacks and covert operations intended to remove Fidel Castro from power in Cuba – known as "Operation Mongoose" – changed the planned invasion site and manipulated the CIA's top-secret mission, which resulted in the project being a total failure, numerous deaths, and the disastrous Bay of Pigs incident in the 1960s. Operation Mongoose's goal of overthrowing Castro involved the coordination of American intelligence, Cuban exiles and organized crime. In the middle of the operation, "Kennedy, … hiding the hand of the U.S. government," made the decision to "cancel the air strikes set to destroy the remaining fleet of Cuban bombers," interfered with artillery and weapons drops, and caused multiple deaths of CIA contract pilots, according to the CIA's own website.
These decisions infuriated Mafia bosses including Carlos Marcello, who had reportedly sent Kennedy to the White House by rigging the Illinois presidential vote. As the Los Angeles Times reported in 1997, citing veteran investigative journalist Seymour Hersh:
Robert Kennedy, the president's attorney general, decided to team up with the FBI and go after the Mafia. In 1968, while running for president himself, Robert Kennedy was also assassinated.
HistoryHit.com recounts some of the history of that era, citing Mafia boss Sam Giancana, the head of the infamous Chicago Outfit from 1957 to 1966:
Is the CIA America's '1984'-style 'Big Brother'?
Richard BlakleyWND EXCLUSIVE
Assassination, stealing elections, manipulating media, trafficking drugs, spying on Americans
In George Orwell's famous novel, "1984," an oppressive government – symbolized by the phrase "Big Brother" – is continually spying on everyone and manipulating how and what they think.
In many ways, today's Central Intelligence Agency seems to be America's version of "Big Brother" – or perhaps even to exceed it. By multiple reliable accounts, the CIA has been involved in everything from manipulating the media, to trafficking drugs, to flipping governments, to controlling Hollywood, even to participating in the assassination of a U.S. president. And of course, spying on Americans.
Recruiting journalists for spy work
It started long ago. Operation Mockingbird was "a CIA project that recruited journalists to write fake stories promoting government ideas while dispelling communist ones" – or at least that is how it started. The operation began in the 1950s, recruiting "American journalists into a propaganda network," but was expanded to include influencing foreign media as well.
During the 1970s, the U.S. Senate established the "Church Committee" to examine potential abuses by the CIA, the NSA, the FBI and the IRS. Finally, in 2007, about 700 pages of documents pertaining to scandals and misconduct of the agencies during the 1970s were declassified and released by the CIA, and nicknamed "The Family Jewels."
A 1996 Senate Select Committee Intelligence Report details the use of journalists, clergymen and Peace Corps members in intelligence operations. Commenting on the report, former ABC news anchor Ted Koppel stated: "The gathering of intelligence is a difficult, dangerous, and sometimes dirty operation. That is not my judgment. That is what we have repeatedly been told by senior intelligence officers. … When, as they sometimes do, U.S. intelligence officers circumvent or even break American laws, they must reckon with the possibility that they will one day be held to account. If their arguments are persuasive … Congress can be expected to be lenient. … If the CIA must on occasion use the role of an American journalist to conceal one of its operatives and to protect the greater national interest, it will do so, regardless of what is decided by Congress. But let that continue to be in the knowledge that a free press is being endangered and that American law is being broken."
Participating in the assassination of an American president
Independent 2024 presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., whose uncle, President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, was assassinated in 1963, recently stated:"There is overwhelming evidence that the CIA was involved in his murder. … I think it is beyond reasonable doubt at this point. … The evidence is overwhelming that the CIA was involved in the murder, and in the cover-up."
Why would the CIA participate in the assassination of a U.S. president? The answer may never be fully known. However, many cite the fact that President Kennedy, in overseeing the CIA's extensive campaign of terror attacks and covert operations intended to remove Fidel Castro from power in Cuba – known as "Operation Mongoose" – changed the planned invasion site and manipulated the CIA's top-secret mission, which resulted in the project being a total failure, numerous deaths, and the disastrous Bay of Pigs incident in the 1960s. Operation Mongoose's goal of overthrowing Castro involved the coordination of American intelligence, Cuban exiles and organized crime. In the middle of the operation, "Kennedy, … hiding the hand of the U.S. government," made the decision to "cancel the air strikes set to destroy the remaining fleet of Cuban bombers," interfered with artillery and weapons drops, and caused multiple deaths of CIA contract pilots, according to the CIA's own website.
These decisions infuriated Mafia bosses including Carlos Marcello, who had reportedly sent Kennedy to the White House by rigging the Illinois presidential vote. As the Los Angeles Times reported in 1997, citing veteran investigative journalist Seymour Hersh:
Mafia bosses wanted Castro out of Cuba because they had lost lucrative investments in Cuban casinos when the communists took over. With Kennedy wrecking the whole operation, a CIA-tied Mafia boss reportedly claimed he put a "hit" on Kennedy.The money, muscle and influence of organized crime helped John F. Kennedy win the closely contested 1960 election, investigative journalist Seymour M. Hersh contends in a new book on the Kennedy presidency.
And once Kennedy was inaugurated, Robert F. Kennedy, his brother and attorney general, refused to pursue FBI evidence into widespread voting fraud, Hersh alleges.
In "The Dark Side of Camelot," Hersh claims that the Mafia was brought into the Kennedy presidential campaign – and helped the Democrat carry the key state of Illinois – mainly at the instigation of Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., founder of the family political dynasty.
Robert Kennedy, the president's attorney general, decided to team up with the FBI and go after the Mafia. In 1968, while running for president himself, Robert Kennedy was also assassinated.
HistoryHit.com recounts some of the history of that era, citing Mafia boss Sam Giancana, the head of the infamous Chicago Outfit from 1957 to 1966:
The House Select Committee in the mid-'70s couldn't rule out that JFK was killed by the Mob.Known for his unstable behavior and hot temper, Giancana rubbed shoulders with everyone from dangerous underworld criminals to high-profile figures such as Phyllis McGuire, Frank Sinatra and the Kennedy family.
… Born in New York to Italian immigrant parents, he climbed through the ranks of the Chicago underworld and was later recruited by the CIA in a plot to assassinate Cuban leader Fidel Castro. After the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963, some suggested Giancana had been involved as payback for the president's crackdown on organized crime.