Full Version: CIA "Family Jewels"
QUOTE(Washington Post)
The CIA today released hundreds of pages of formerly top-secret documents on activities ranging from a plot to assassinate Cuban leader Fidel Castro to domestic espionage against Americans.
The documents, described in internal CIA memoranda as the "family jewels," mostly cover activities in the 1960s and early 1970s that the agency considered likely to cause embarrassment if revealed.[...]Totaling 693 pages, the "family jewels" describe assassination plots, eavesdropping on American journalists, spying on civil rights activists and opponents of the Vietnam War, the surreptitious testing of dangerous drugs on citizens, break-ins at the homes of former CIA employees and sources and the opening of mail between the United States and the Soviet Union and China.[...]Today's document release answers a Freedom of Information Act request that dates from 1992, the agency said. It described the move as part of the CIA's "concerted effort to close out its old [FOIA] cases under the law."
The "family jewels" were originally collected as a byproduct of the Watergate scandal. Schlesinger had been angered by press reports that the CIA had provided support to two men who were convicted of the 1972 break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate Hotel in Washington: E. Howard Hunt and James W. McCord Jr.
The documents, described in internal CIA memoranda as the "family jewels," mostly cover activities in the 1960s and early 1970s that the agency considered likely to cause embarrassment if revealed.[...]Totaling 693 pages, the "family jewels" describe assassination plots, eavesdropping on American journalists, spying on civil rights activists and opponents of the Vietnam War, the surreptitious testing of dangerous drugs on citizens, break-ins at the homes of former CIA employees and sources and the opening of mail between the United States and the Soviet Union and China.[...]Today's document release answers a Freedom of Information Act request that dates from 1992, the agency said. It described the move as part of the CIA's "concerted effort to close out its old [FOIA] cases under the law."
The "family jewels" were originally collected as a byproduct of the Watergate scandal. Schlesinger had been angered by press reports that the CIA had provided support to two men who were convicted of the 1972 break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate Hotel in Washington: E. Howard Hunt and James W. McCord Jr.
CIA Releases Top-Secret Documents
Complete Text of Release (700 pg PDF)
The first of the "Family Jewels" was entirely redacted, which is a great sign...
More will make itself clear as time goes on.. but a general reaction can be taken now.
How do theses past misdeeds by the CIA reflect on the organization today?
Are the redactions justfied?
Is the amount of time between FOIA request and release reasonable?
Are the "bad old days" over as the CIA claims?
What's your favorite (so to speak) "Family Jewel"?
Edited to point out one doesn't have to download all 700 pages at once, the link is one at a time
None of these "secrets" was ever very secret. People have been talking about them almost as long as they have been "secret". The Bay of Pigs, the Mafia hit plot against Castro, the cold war domestic spying, ...it was well leaked, and many different intelligence branches, not just the CIA were pushing their own agendas. One of my TA's in college, in fact, admitted to me he had posed as a student at Kent State (or one of those "difficult" schools) on behalf of U.S. Naval Intelligence, but eventually he wavered in his effort and got reassigned because he felt uncomfortable carrying a loaded pistol while hanging out with the kids pretending to be cool.
Although more legitimate from a legal standpoint, the FBI also did extensive domestic intelligence gathering which is also well documented. Since during the 70's my parents had rented out a home to some Chavez farm worker activists, the FBI made appearances to question my mother about their activities. As a child I used to wave and escort them up the front walk, not so much as a result of political infatuation, but rather because they were regular visitors.
Because all of these "secrets" have been common gossip for a long time, I doubt it was of any great importance to deny it, so the main purpose undoubtedly was simply political expediency for a different reason. In other words to look like housecleaning has been done and to state to the world, "mission accomplished."
Although more legitimate from a legal standpoint, the FBI also did extensive domestic intelligence gathering which is also well documented. Since during the 70's my parents had rented out a home to some Chavez farm worker activists, the FBI made appearances to question my mother about their activities. As a child I used to wave and escort them up the front walk, not so much as a result of political infatuation, but rather because they were regular visitors.
Because all of these "secrets" have been common gossip for a long time, I doubt it was of any great importance to deny it, so the main purpose undoubtedly was simply political expediency for a different reason. In other words to look like housecleaning has been done and to state to the world, "mission accomplished."
I suppose I should answer my own questions before I busy myself today and am unable...
How do theses past misdeeds by the CIA reflect on the organization today?
The trouble as I see it is two-fold....
There are the literal hold-overs, officials from that time who may still have their jobs or at least significant influence.
..and there is the figurative holdover also know as precedent.
It is not simply the overzealous means that are disturbing but the downright perversion of purpose some of these items reflect. I mean the fact that the CIA is involved in the Watergate break-in has to say something...
....and given all the talk of secret prison and rendition it isn't so much of a leap to say that an organization that has engaged in illegal and immoral activity in the past will do so in the future. Including trying to foil its own oversight.
Are the redactions justfied?
Some yes, but entire sections like the first "Family Jewel" and anything else that wouldn't directly compromise national security should mean someone gets sued. This is a legal requirement, you don't get to pick and choose.
Is the amount of time between FOIA request and release reasonable?
Okay, it's a gimme question. Decades folks, the oldest FOIA process the CIA had on the books.
What's your favorite (so to speak) "Family Jewel"?
Hard to say. Unwittingly testing LSD on human subjects or stalking Brit Hume..
How do theses past misdeeds by the CIA reflect on the organization today?
The trouble as I see it is two-fold....
There are the literal hold-overs, officials from that time who may still have their jobs or at least significant influence.
..and there is the figurative holdover also know as precedent.
It is not simply the overzealous means that are disturbing but the downright perversion of purpose some of these items reflect. I mean the fact that the CIA is involved in the Watergate break-in has to say something...
....and given all the talk of secret prison and rendition it isn't so much of a leap to say that an organization that has engaged in illegal and immoral activity in the past will do so in the future. Including trying to foil its own oversight.
Are the redactions justfied?
Some yes, but entire sections like the first "Family Jewel" and anything else that wouldn't directly compromise national security should mean someone gets sued. This is a legal requirement, you don't get to pick and choose.
Is the amount of time between FOIA request and release reasonable?
Okay, it's a gimme question. Decades folks, the oldest FOIA process the CIA had on the books.
What's your favorite (so to speak) "Family Jewel"?
Hard to say. Unwittingly testing LSD on human subjects or stalking Brit Hume..
How do theses past misdeeds by the CIA reflect on the organization today?
Are the redactions justfied?
Are the "bad old days" over as the CIA claims?
I this gives us a glimse of the true nature of the CIA and both here and now.
The redactions are justified if one might be the subject of them.. say the latest "jewel" on Henry Kissinger. From a public accountability view however, not so much.
QUOTE(RawStory)
In July and August of 1974, Turkey staged a military invasion of the island nation of Cyprus, taking over nearly a third of the island and creating a divide between the south and north. Most historians consider that Kissinger – then Secretary of State and National Security Advisor to President Gerald Ford – not only knew about the planned attack on Cyprus, but encouraged it.
Some Greek Cypriots believed then, and still believe, that the invasion was a deliberate plot on the part of Britain and the US to maintain their influence on the island, which was particularly important as a listening post in the Eastern Mediterranean in the wake of the October 1973 War between Israel, Egypt, Jordan and Syria.
Some Greek Cypriots believed then, and still believe, that the invasion was a deliberate plot on the part of Britain and the US to maintain their influence on the island, which was particularly important as a listening post in the Eastern Mediterranean in the wake of the October 1973 War between Israel, Egypt, Jordan and Syria.
This was in addition to what I already knew of Kissinger's involvement in East Timor. I was both surprised and not surprised to see this article.
The bad old days here to stay, because they form what is only now elaborated on as belligerant narrative of successive overthrows of hostile leaderships. This is the root of historical regime change and wars by proxy, two things the CIA engages regularly in.
How do theses past misdeeds by the CIA reflect on the organization today?
It should reflect badly on the CIA. This is only a list of past misdeeds and there is no indication that the CIA has learned anything or has taken a different stance. The extraordinary renditions and the disappearance of supposed terrorist suspects, for example, clearly shows that the CIA is still using very questionable and presumably unlawfull methods up to this very day.
Are the redactions justfied?
Some probably are, but, as Turnea already pointed out, the entire redaction (disappearance) of the first "Family Jewel" (I would prefer to call it like it is: a criminal act) is completely unjustified.
Are the "bad old days" over as the CIA claims?
No, clearly not. There are indications, as mentioned above, that the CIA has learned nothing of its past mistakes.
What's your favorite (so to speak) "Family Jewel"?[/b]
Without a doubt the missing first "Family Jewel". Why is it completely redacted? What is so important that even after so many years the public should still be withheld this information? It leaves room for many wild speculations. The number 1 "jewel" has got to be something really big and still really damaging for the CIA. The biggest question the released documents raise is :what is this number 1 "jewel"?
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