Speaking of brutal conspiracies and intel in particular -- a good book "All the Shah's Men" describes that Truman was afraid of what the CIA could become - in one of his diaries (as reported by Stephen Kinzer) he described it as a possibility of an "American Gestappo".
They show their stuff in the Iranian coup. After Ike gets elected, the chief of British intelligence makes his pitch even before inauguration. The agent wants British oil interests back from Iran's Mossedeqe, but knowing Americans won't accept that, says in his private diaries that he completely makes up the excuse that "Iran is going Communist", and the Dulles brothers enthusiastically adopted that argument, so the CIA is in on the plan.
Their agent is Kermit Roosevelt, who starts by bribing news editors, members of Iran's Parliment and politicians, mullahs, and mid-ranking military officers to denounce Mossedeqe. Then he got into the "Mobs-R-Us" business with street gangs to stir up protests. He brings Norman Schwartzkopf Sr. to meet the Shah and help convince him to go along with the coup.
The coup succeeds, Kermit comes back to America, and the Dulles brothers discover a new purpose for the CIA -- overthrowing governments. Sure enough, JF Dulles calls Kermit in a month later to overthrow Guatamala, and starts the CIA on the road to destabilizing countries. This confirmed Truman's fears, and reversed his policies of non-intervention.
According to Kinzer, it was the Shah's subsequent repressive regime within a couple of years brought about the fundamentalists that spawned deep-seated anti-Americanism that led to the Iran clerics, Saudi fanatics and spread throughout the Middle East. |
