American economist Jeffrey D. Sachs, in one of his research articles exclaims, “There are three basic problems with the CIA: Its objectives, methods and unaccountability. Its operational objectives are whatever the CIA or whatever the President of the United States defines to be in the US interest at a given time, irrespective of the international law or the US law”. This statement summarizes the role, purposes and the true intentions of the American Central Intelligence Agency.
It is an open secret. CIA, is known across the globe for its covert operations, fueling political instability, funding anti-establishment rhetoric and stimulating regime changes that ultimately champions anarchy and the fulfillment of the American hegemonic ambitions. Another testament to the actual deeds undertaken by the CIA comes from the Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. During his time as the Director of CIA, has admitted that “I was the CIA Director. We lied, we cheated, we stole. We had the entire training courses. It reminds you of the glory of the American experiment”.
Disparity between what it says and what it does!
Central Intelligence Agency(CIA) is the premier foreign intelligence agency of the United States of America. Its primary goal is to foster the national security of the USA by collecting, evaluating and disseminating the vital and critical information on global developments and analyze how they are paramount for the security and development of America.
CIA was established in 1947 as the successor of the Office of Strategic Services(OSS). During the World War 2, OSS had predominantly performed two functions. Providing critical intelligence inputs and undertaking subvert operations. Since, 1947 CIA apparently, took over both these functions. So, CIA basically has two roles:
- Provide intelligence to the US government
- Subvert the “enemy” regimes; and here where the actual problem arises. Who is an “enemy” in the perspective of the US government?
The “enemy” is whomever the US President or the CIA defines as at a particular period of time based on subjective ideologies, political affiliations, capitalist motivations, global perspectives and geopolitical ambitions.
Here comes the next important question! How does the CIA counters those “enemies”. Well, it can be through funding assassinations, triggering civilian unrest or military coups, arming insurgents etc. Thus Jeffery Sachs quotes CIA as “the secret army of the US capable of creating mayhem across the world with no accountability whatsoever”!
Let us take an example, in Democratic Republic of Congo(DRC) a democratically elected leader, deemed as the rising political star, Patrice Lumumba was in power. He was perceived as an “enemy” by then US President Dwight Eisenhower and the result was CIA conspired his assassination in 1961. This assassination didn’t just end the political career of an aspiring leader. But, it apparently ended the hopes of “democracy” for the African continent.
Arming Al Qaeda in Afghanistan
There are also considerable evidence to believe that the CIA has covertly worked to destabilize Afghanistan since 1975. CIA has unleashed secret missions to fund and arm the Islamic Jihadists in Afghanistan that has ultimately nurtured the notorious Al Qaeda. Under the code name, Operation Cyclone, during the Soviet-Afghan war(1979-1989), America through CIA has funded and armed Afghan Mujahideen with the goal of defeating the USSR and fulfilling the hegemonic ambitions of the Washington DC. This operation of the CIA ultimately gave rise to world’s most notorious and inhuman terror outfits such as Al Qaeda and terrorists like Osama Bin Laden and others.
US adventurism in Afghanistan continued with its Global War on Terror in the aftermath of 9/11. Since 2001, Afghan paramilitary forces continued to work with the CIA. Surprisingly, as an integral part of the Global War on Terror, US took a steep shift in Afghanistan in sharp contrast to what it did in 1990s and 80s. Since 2001, CIA funded, trained and organized Afghan militias to fight against Islamist militias. Just a testament to the whims and fancies of the CIA, in order to fulfill its geopolitical goals. Since 2001, CIA began to fund the forces in order to destroy the organization and people that it fondly nurtured(Jihadists) once upon a time!
CIA backed local militias continued to operate against Islamic militants across Afghanistan. But, was CIA apparently able to eradicate Taliban? All it did was human right abuses, extra judicial killings of civilians in the name of eradicating terrorism and ultimately, abruptly exiting the country in 2020, when the operation seemed to be costlier for the US treasury. Meanwhile, Afghanistan is still dwindling in poverty, gender bias, human rights violation and other humanitarian crisis, with Kabul being an opium hub and faraway from the developmental prospects.
The list continues as accountability hangs in the air
North Vietnam: The infamous confrontation in North Vietnam during the war between North and South Vietnam from 1954 to 1975. This includes torturing civilians, running propaganda missions, inhuman and mindless bombing, just to satisfy the ideological motivations.
Laos: The secret war in Laos where the CIA armed and trained the Hmong ethnic forces in order to contain the spread of communism. CIA also flew over 5,80,000 bombing missions in the country and dropped millions of pounds of explosives, making Laos the most bombed country in the history. Ultimately, what the mission caused were civilian casualties, accidents, endemic diseases that haunt the masses of the Laos even decades later.
Cambodia: One of the devastating roles of CIA is in Cambodia. It is said that CIA conspired the 1970 coup in the country to topple the Prince Sihanouk regime. CIA also authored a ground invasion in Cambodia in order to search and destroy the bases of North Vietnam in the country. CIA has also funded millions of dollars to arm the non-communist resistance groups and accelerate a civil war across the country just to protect US interests in South Vietnam.
A leaked classified document from the US government also claim that CIA aided the Khmer Rouge, the communist party of Cambodia in the 1980s with USD 85 million, in order to weaken the influence of Vietnam and the Soviet Union across Southeast Asia. This testifies that, irrespective of ideology and historical affiliations, CIA keeps altering its alliances and partners with the apex agenda of fulfilling its hegemonic deeds.
Pacific Islands: CIA rigorously interfered even in the smallest of the smallest island countries such as Fiji, Vanuatu etc. in the pacific region not to secure the genuine American interests or to counter any real threat, but to only use the region as a base to test US nuclear weapons at the cost of lives of the innocent people.
Manipulating elections: Another hegemonic tool of CIA
In the aftermath of disintegration of USSR, the United States stopped speaking about communism. After 9/11, it built the narrative called as “Global War on Terror”. Later, it began to speak about protecting and nurturing democracy, free speech and liberalism across the globe, ironically!
What it truly did was hijacking elections in order to establish pro-US regimes and fulfill its hegemonic ambitions. CIA’s covert foreign electoral interference ranged from sponsoring vote-changing propaganda, doxing, financing the propaganda and public opinion and gerrymandering the poll results, to install a pro-US puppet leader in the helm. As per the historians and political analysts, CIA has played an active role in the elections of Italy, Guatemala, Vietnam, Chile, Greece and the list continues.
Let us take the example of Serbia. In 2000, CIA spent millions of dollars to work against Slobodan Milosevic. President Clinton admitted that the ‘government authorized the intelligence to interfere in the 2000 election in favour of Milosevic’s opponent’. US defended its actions as promoting democracy rather than hurting it.
Here is an interesting example that reflects how US covers up its core agenda in the name of “democracy”. US launched Operation Desert Storm in order to find the Weapons of Mass Destruction(WMD) in Iraq. When no WMD was found and as Saddam Hussein regime was overthrown, US coated its operation as an effort to promote Iraqi democracy. What did the Operation in Iraq yield? It just later became a fertile ground to sprout the ISIS terror outfit.
CIA also intervened in the elections of Mauritius in 1982 as it feared that any result against US’s interests would undermine the US foothold in the island ports. It is just that US does all these operations covertly, in the name of promoting democracy and free & fair elections, as the most responsible and oldest democracy of the world!
Puncturing strong regimes, pursuing puppet leaders
Well, what does the US do, if its goal of hijacking the ballots doesn’t succeed and if it is unable to carve a pro-US regime? The answer is toppling the established governments and reinstalling puppet regimes. That is CIA will fuel large funds in order to deliberately destabilize the elected governments.
As per the reports, CIA funded over USD 10 million, to a self-governing trade Union called as ‘Solidarity’ to overthrow the established regime in Poland in 1980s, thus aiding to consolidate US hegemony across Europe. In Chile, during 1970-73, the CIA has spent a massive USD 8 million, to run the propaganda campaign in favour of the pro-US candidate. When that path failed, CIA resorted to create a ‘climate of coup’ in Chile and made the economy to degenerate, thus changing the regime as per its whims and fancies, where a democratic, peace-loving Chile became a victim card under the military coup. This is just another chapter in the hegemonic ambitions of the US at the cost of other sovereign countries.
To change regimes and fulfill geopolitical ambitions, US pitches neighbours against each other, drains the economy and financial sources of a country and triggers economic crisis and later utilizes IMF as a tool to control crisis-hit nations. It manipulates propaganda, creates chaos among public that cumulates to a civilian or military coup, warfare, genocide, assassination and anarchy, thus the regime changes and a pro-US puppet occupies the throne. This is true from Chile in South America to Jamaica which is a Caribbean Island, from Nepal and Bangladesh in South Asia to Poland and Georgia in Europe and Cambodia, Venezuela in Southeast Asia.
CIA in India’s backyard
The American CIA indeed has substantial interest in South Asia and has repeatedly attempted to destabilize the region with the aim of thwarting the growth prospects of the emerging economies such as India and China and to establish US hegemony in the vicinity.
Let us take the example of Bangladesh and the ouster of Prime Minister Sheik Hasina in 2024. CIA as usual began to interfere in the sovereign affairs of Dhaka in the name of upholding free and fair elections and protecting democracy & human rights in the country. Infact, Former Prime Minister Sheik Hasina had on record reiterated that she is suffering from “white-man pressure”. She also asserted, “They are trying to eliminate democracy and introduce a government that will not have a democratic existence”. What is beyond the records is, Sheikh Hasina didn’t permit the US to build an airbase in the St. Martin Island of Bangladesh. Irked by this CIA sponsored the ouster of the Hasina regime from Dhaka.
With the latest example of Nepal, all the dots align to believe that the Gen Z protest of Nepal has external interference. Experts believe that Nepal youth were frustrated with the corrupt regime. They had intense angst against the spiking unemployment rates in the country and this frustration of the youth was used as a weapon by the CIA to topple the Nepal government and establish a pro-US regime in South Asia, thereby thwart the influence of Beijing or New Delhi in the region.
The US also seeks to sneak in the politics and development of India. Since decades, CIA is persistently attempting to meddle in India and thereby trying to degenerate the established regime. Under the shield of USAID, CIA apparently funds anti-national voices and seeks to destabilize or rupture the growth momentum of a country. Its ambitious USAID programme, intends to promote democracy, free speech, free and fair elections and other developmental goals across the world, but in stark contrast, USAID is a tool to fund anti-establishment forces in the name of championing civil rights, democracy and development.
This is the very reason, why India has tightened the foreign funding protocols under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act(FCRA). With stringent norms, government tries to regulate and restrict the foreign funding in India, thereby filter out the voices that silently are a threat to stability and solidarity of India.
The unhindered covert saga of the CIA continues with the sole purpose of seeding US hegemony across the globe and to hail the US Presidents as the beacon of the globe. This is true in 2025 as much as it was true in 1945. In the name of free and fair elections, rule of law, democracy, free speech and civil liberties, all these are mere engines to run the hegemonic chariot of the USA and the CIA is the Charioteer. Bringing CIA to accountability is an uphill struggle. While, US Congress remains as a silent spectator, states across the geopolitical chessboard are engulfed in their own strategic burdens and calculations.
However, what the nation-states can really do to fissure the hidden agenda of CIA is accelerate national development, propel economic growth, steer the ambitions of the citizens, decode the loopholes in the domestic democratic institutions and champion adequate course-correction, consolidate collective regional security and solidarity, strengthen alternative platforms, kindle self-reliance and keep away from extreme US dependence and ultimately craft a stable and credible balance of power for global security, peace, progress and stability, so no foreign regime can cook their food in your fuel. Apparently, India is indeed navigating in this path.
Comments