Accusations of CIA being a redoubt of untrustworthy lefty cosmopolitans goes back to its founding. OSS was called “Oh So Socialist” for its broad-minded hiring practices. When Frantz Fanon was dying of cancer, CIA flew him back to the US for treatment. An agency officer accompanied his body home. - ThreadSky

zachsdorfman.bsky.social • 5 days ago

Accusations of CIA being a redoubt of untrustworthy lefty cosmopolitans goes back to its founding. OSS was called “Oh So Socialist” for its broad-minded hiring practices. When Frantz Fanon was dying of cancer, CIA flew him back to the US for treatment. An agency officer accompanied his body home.

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zachsdorfman.bsky.social•5 days ago

Any organization that has to understand and work in the wider world will be vulnerable to the depredations of small-minded ultra-nationalists, and CIA and other foreign-oriented IC agencies will not be exempted

jackmurphyrgr.bsky.social•5 days ago

These organizations are, we're told, both far left and far right at the same time. It's mind boggling.

spherical-cow.bsky.social•5 days ago

During the Cold War, at least, the CIA's vibe was roughly "cosmopolitan-reactionary." A lot of the worst stuff they were involved in was less a product of myopic American nationalism than the fact that they were overly friendly with repressive local elites.

spherical-cow.bsky.social•5 days ago

Your median CIA officer in 1965 was the son of American missionaries, or some other sort of expats, whose family was friendly with colonel so-and-so in the local secret police whose job mostly involved "resolving" labor disputes.

coverthistory.bsky.social•5 days ago

Some of this framing results from early cold war Congress for Cultural Freedom era tensions from the CIA supporting a lot of groups with socialist or socialist sounding names. Reactionary Americans struggled with the import of the non communist left in the fight against Soviet expansion.

arfness.bsky.social•5 days ago

“It almost could move one to tender feelings toward the CIA, seriously, it shows a certain humanity that is consoling.” was Hannah Arendt's response when informed of Fanon's transport and death.

jeffholcomb.bsky.social•5 days ago

"Cosmopolitans" sounds so much more ominous when they parade Stephen Miller out to use it. (Did he direct it at Acosta, or am I remembering wrong.)

spherical-cow.bsky.social•5 days ago

As the locus of a sort of anti-Comunist international, the Cold War era CIA had a bizarre institutional culture. People with Ivy League degrees in oriental studies funneling money both to the editors of Partisan Review and ex-Axis war criminals. Graham Green was very on point with Alden Pyle.

coverthistory.bsky.social•5 days ago

In my mind a pretty singular example of Cold War weirdness is Gulf Oil in Angola. Cuban soldiers lrotevted Americans amd their economic interests in a Marxist country from attack by rebels armed amd supported by America.

eyes-on-the-prize.bsky.social•5 days ago

Your history is a little off there. I’d say more but it’s SM and I’m sure you don’t care what I think so we move on.

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