The Deep State: Unraveling America's Secret Power Structure

The Origins of America's Intelligence Apparatus

In the early days of the United States, spy agencies were primarily a wartime endeavor. When the country was at war, it would establish international spy operations to support the war effort. Once peace returned, these agencies would be significantly reduced or eliminated entirely. The rationale was that spy agencies required substantial resources and posed potential threats to civil liberties by concentrating power in the hands of unelected officials. This approach was deemed acceptable during wartime but unnecessary during peacetime.

However, everything changed when World War II arrived on America's doorstep with the bombing of Pearl Harbor. This catastrophic event gave President Franklin D. Roosevelt unprecedented latitude to take action. One of his first moves was to consult with William "Wild Bill" Donovan, a corporate lawyer from Wall Street who was fascinated by the potential of intelligence operations.

The Birth of the OSS

Donovan advocated for the creation of a wartime intelligence service, which led to the establishment of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). This centralized intelligence agency was granted extensive powers to do whatever was necessary to protect American interests and maintain the country's global dominance. The OSS marked the birth of modern intelligence operations, employing tactics such as spying, deception, sabotage, and covert actions.

No idea was too outlandish for the OSS during this period. Their operations ranged from psychological warfare (like a plan to demoralize Hitler by exposing him to large quantities of pornography) to more conventional espionage and sabotage missions. The agency recruited heavily from Wall Street and the entertainment industry, creating fake companies and radio stations to confuse and demoralize the enemy.

One of Donovan's preferred methods was hosting parties at his Georgetown home to plan operations and recruit new agents from American high society. This earned the agency the nickname "Oh So Social" and established a pattern of close ties between the intelligence community and the social elite.

Post-War Concerns

When World War II ended in 1945, the OSS was dissolved. President Harry Truman, wary of the risks posed by a powerful secret intelligence agency, famously stated that he didn't want to "risk having an American Gestapo." Truman's concerns, particularly in the context of having just defeated Nazi Germany, centered on the danger of a secret intelligence agency enforcing political norms and potentially enabling tyranny.

However, dismantling the intelligence apparatus proved more challenging than anticipated. The network of relationships and power structures established during the war years had already taken root, particularly in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington D.C., where many key figures in the intelligence community lived and socialized.

The Cold War and the Birth of the CIA

The period of peace following World War II was short-lived. Tensions quickly began to rise between the United States and the Soviet Union, former allies who now viewed each other with suspicion. This new geopolitical reality led to calls for the resurrection of a centralized intelligence agency to combat the perceived Soviet threat.

Despite opposition from lawmakers who feared concentrating too much power in the hands of unelected officials, President Truman eventually changed his stance. In 1947, he signed the National Security Act, which created the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The CIA's mandate was broad, tasked with gathering and distributing intelligence and performing "other functions and duties related to intelligence affecting national security."

The CIA's Expanding Reach

With this vague but expansive mandate, the CIA quickly began to extend its influence both domestically and internationally. Some of the agency's notable operations during this period included:

• Operation Paperclip (1945-1959): Recruiting Nazi scientists to develop American rocket technology.
• Interference in the 1948 Italian elections to ensure US-allied candidates won.
• Operation Ajax (1953): Orchestrating a coup in Iran to overthrow the democratically elected government.
• 1954 Guatemalan coup d'état: Overthrowing another democratically elected government, allegedly at the behest of the United Fruit Company.
• Coups and interventions in Congo, Chile, Indonesia, and Greece.
• Mind control experiments (MKUltra): Conducting secret tests on unwitting subjects, including the administration of LSD without consent.
• Operation Mockingbird: Infiltrating and manipulating American media outlets.
• COINTELPRO: A series of covert projects aimed at surveilling, infiltrating, and disrupting domestic political organizations.

These operations, many of which were illegal or ethically questionable, were conducted without oversight or accountability. The CIA had essentially embarked on what historian Jefferson Morley describes as a "20-year crime spree."

The Georgetown Set

Much of this power was concentrated among a small group of individuals, many of whom were not elected officials. A significant number of these influential figures lived in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington D.C., hosting lavish parties and effectively running much of America's foreign policy from their living rooms.

This concentration of power in the hands of unelected officials operating in secrecy was precisely the nightmare scenario that the country's founders and President Truman had feared. It represented a significant departure from the principles of democratic accountability and transparency.

The Backlash and the Church Committee

As the Vietnam War dragged on and domestic unrest grew in the 1960s and early 1970s, more Americans began to question the actions of their government, particularly in the realm of national security and foreign policy. In response to growing anti-war sentiment, the intelligence community, rather than addressing public concerns, began spying on protesters and activists.

Operation CHAOS, for instance, was a CIA program that infiltrated and surveilled the anti-war movement, despite repeated findings that it was not controlled or funded by foreign powers. This domestic spying extended to civil rights leaders, feminist activists, and other perceived "subversives."

The Church Committee Investigations

Eventually, the extent of these abuses came to light, leading to a series of congressional investigations. The most famous of these was the Church Committee, led by Senator Frank Church, which conducted a comprehensive review of intelligence community activities.

The committee's findings were shocking to many Americans. They revealed:

• Assassination plots against foreign leaders
• Widespread domestic surveillance programs
• Attempts to discredit civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King Jr.
• The CIA's mind control experiments (MKUltra)
• Efforts to infiltrate and manipulate the American press

These revelations made it clear that a group of unelected government employees had been using the immense power and resources of the United States government to pursue illegal and unethical programs, often in secret and without any meaningful oversight.

The Response and Reforms

In the wake of the Church Committee's findings, a series of reforms were implemented. New oversight regulations were put in place, and congressional committees were established to provide more robust supervision of intelligence activities.

However, these reforms were met with resistance from within the intelligence community. Many CIA officials resented the scrutiny and attempted to undermine or intimidate those calling for greater accountability, including Senator Church himself.

Despite this pushback, the Church Committee investigations represented a significant moment in American democracy. They demonstrated the system's capacity to check the excesses of power and bring secret government activities into the light of public scrutiny.

The Post-9/11 Era and the Resurgence of Secret Power

The reforms implemented in the wake of the Church Committee investigations helped to rein in some of the excesses of the intelligence community for several decades. However, the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, dramatically altered the landscape once again.

In the aftermath of 9/11, there was a renewed call to empower intelligence agencies to keep America safe. This led to the passage of the USA PATRIOT Act and the creation of new agencies and programs, all aimed at preventing future terrorist attacks.

Expansion of Secret Programs

The post-9/11 era saw a massive expansion of secret government programs and activities:

• The implementation of enhanced interrogation techniques (widely considered to be torture)
• Expansion of warrantless wiretapping and surveillance programs
• Creation of new top-secret facilities and programs
• Significant increase in classified jobs and budget allocations

Many of these programs echoed the excesses of the early Cold War era, but on an even larger scale. The intelligence community asserted powers that had previously been curtailed, often with little effective oversight due to the sheer scale and complexity of the new security apparatus.

The Snowden Revelations

The true extent of this expansion only became clear in 2013 when Edward Snowden, a former CIA employee and NSA contractor, leaked classified documents detailing the scope of US government surveillance programs. These revelations reignited debates about the balance between national security and civil liberties, and the extent to which secret government activities could be justified in the name of public safety.

The Deep State Today

The concept of the "deep state" - a network of unelected officials wielding significant power behind the scenes - has become increasingly prominent in public discourse. While the term is often politicized and misused, the history of America's intelligence community demonstrates that there is some truth to the idea of a permanent bureaucracy that operates outside of full democratic oversight.

Today, the intelligence community continues to grapple with issues of overclassification, lack of transparency, and the inherent tension between secrecy and democratic accountability. Even presidents have found themselves unable to fully control or reform these institutions, highlighting the enduring power of what some call the deep state.

The Ongoing Debate

The debate over the proper role and scope of America's intelligence agencies continues. Supporters argue that robust intelligence capabilities are necessary to keep the country safe in an increasingly complex and dangerous world. Critics contend that unchecked secret power poses a fundamental threat to democratic governance and individual liberty.

Finding the right balance between security and transparency, between necessary secrecy and democratic accountability, remains an ongoing challenge for American democracy. The history of the CIA and America's intelligence community serves as a stark reminder of the risks posed by unchecked secret power, as well as the importance of constant vigilance in maintaining the delicate balance required for a free and open society.

Conclusion

The story of America's "deep state" is a complex one, filled with moments of both patriotic service and alarming overreach. From the early days of the OSS to the post-9/11 expansion of the intelligence community, the United States has grappled with the challenge of maintaining national security while preserving democratic values and individual liberties.

The revelations of the Church Committee in the 1970s and the Snowden leaks in 2013 serve as powerful reminders of the potential for abuse when secret power goes unchecked. Yet, the continued existence and influence of these agencies also speak to the perceived necessity of their work in an often dangerous world.

As we move forward, it is crucial for citizens and policymakers alike to remain engaged with these issues. The power of the "deep state" - whether we use that term or not - is real, and its potential impact on democracy and individual freedom cannot be ignored. Striking the right balance between security and liberty, between necessary secrecy and essential transparency, will remain one of the most critical challenges facing American democracy in the years to come.

Ultimately, the story of America's secret power structures is a testament to both the strengths and vulnerabilities of democratic governance. It highlights the need for constant vigilance, robust oversight, and an informed citizenry to ensure that the noble goals of national security do not come at the expense of the very values and freedoms they are meant to protect.

Article created from: https://youtu.be/tWxh2oS7Ays?si=NJIWbmZXsfoNnVhi