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From: tos@psc70.UUCP (Dr.Schlesinger)
Newsgroups: net.college,net.politics
Subject: Re: CIA and terrorism
Message-ID: <172@psc70.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 9-Mar-86 20:34:41 EST
Article-I.D.: psc70.172
Posted: Sun Mar  9 20:34:41 1986
Date-Received: Sat, 15-Mar-86 20:19:24 EST
References: <705@ihlpm.UUCP> <473@umich.UUCP> <1903@jhunix.UUCP> <545@whuts.UUCP> <1500@sdcsvax.UUCP>, <82@cad.URe: CIA and terrorism
Organization: Plymouth State College, Plymouth, NH
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Xref: watmath net.college:1223 net.politics:13927


    It seems to get overlooked that only a relatively ninor percentage
of CIA activity falls into the category apparently alluded to in this
discussion, namely the supposedly covert interventions in other
countries. Intervention in the politics of ours was an aberration of
the Nixon years. The vast majority of CIA personnel and resources are
devoted to the gathering of information. Most of this is obtained by
perfectly overt means, and the CIA task is to sift, analyse, assemble
pieces of the puzzle. Little bits are added by clandestine means.
There is great doubt about how useful all this, because the historical
record shows that most of the time policy makers accept only the
information which fits their previous perceptions and conceptions of
reality.
     Considering this, the decision whether to work for it or not,
should be based on the major part of the task, not the occasional
special tasks (they're called "covert operations" in the jargon, as
contrasted with "clandestine intelligence collection.") A partial
analogy would be a very large city police department. Almost all of
them (consisting of 10-20,000 people) either have been, or are at one
time or another, charged with abuses of various kinds... some very
serious. Should that stop someone from deciding to become a
professional police officer? Philadelphia right now would be a
specially poignant example... the mayor stands charged with a
tragically horrible "abuse."


Tom Schlesinger
Plymouth State College
Plymouth, N.H. 03264
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