Let me say right up front that I recognize that nothing I could say will sway the opinion of those who are predisposed to view the CIA as an evil, corrupt, and out of control entity. Some will not be open to a conversation that presents another point of view. Much of that feeling is based on some of the admittedly stupid things that the CIA has done over the years, certainly including in more recent years.
That being said, let me point out that while the CIA’s failures and sometimes questionable activities always become public knowledge, the successes of the CIA are almost never known by the American people. Those successes far outnumber the CIA’s failures by a large margin.
The times when the CIA has saved lives protecting the country from terrorist attacks, or the times they have provided America’s decision-makers with high quality intelligence to help them formulate our national policies, or have given us the edge in any international negotiations by providing our side with a better understanding of our adversaries weaknesses and bargaining positions are rarely, if ever known. If Americans knew about those successes then our enemies would as well, and they wouldn’t be much of a success after all.
Agency employees toil in anonymity. They don’t get the ticker-tape parades, the chests full of medals, or any public accolades afforded to others. They go about doing their jobs quietly, accepting that theirs is a profession that by its very nature has to be anonymous.
That leads to much of the mistrust of the Agency on the part of the........