CIA and the New World Order

By Ralph McGehee, CIABASE, 9 December 1996

Western intervention in the affairs of other civilizations is probably the single most dangerous source of instability and potential global conflict in a multi-civilizational world.

A book review in the New York Times Book Review of, THE CLASH OF CIVILIZATIONS AND THE REMAKING OF THE WORLD ORDER, by Samuel Huntington [one of the fiercest hawks re Vietnam] says the war of ideologies and interests was over. The war of cultures—Western, Eastern Orthodox, Latin America, Islamic, Japanese, Chinese, Hindu and (possibly) African, had begun. He said Jews lined up with Judeo-Christian heritage of the West. These were the real actors to now watch.

Realist analysts of international affairs had neglected these deeply buried religious allegiances during the Cold War. Now, Western intervention in the affairs of other civilizations is probably the single most dangerous source of instability and potential global conflict in a multi-civilizational world. Western intervention is also useless—problems, for example, between Islam and Orthodoxy aren't susceptible to Western mediation (differences have existed for centuries). Core states [must] abstain from intervention in conflicts in other civilizations.

Huntington's argument that the West should stop intervening in civilizational conflicts it doesn't understand makes a powerful claim that internationalists cannot easily ignore (end of review excerpts).

If Huntington's arguments are adopted them the reasons for the CIA's covert operations cease. This of course will be vigorously resisted by the CIA's Operations Directorate that will continue to justify itself on the basis of its [extremely biased and flawed] perceptions of the world—many consciously or subconsciously manufactured to ensure the DO's continued existence.

Re misunderstanding other cultures—Robert McNamara in his book, IN RETROSPECT, noted the failures of intelligence about Vietnam: We misjudged the North Vietnamese, the Viet Cong, and exaggerated the dangers to the United States; we totally misjudged the political forces in South Vietnam; we underestimated the power of nationalism; and, we had a profound ignorance of history, culture, and politics of the people in Southeast Asia.

Now the terribly flawed Central Intelligence Agency has jumped with both feet into further situations it does not understand. The CIA has, inter alia, declared a new holy crusade on Islamic Fundamentalism, calling it the more explosive and evocative International Terrorism. The CIA directs paramilitary operations against Iraq, Libya, and Sudan. (The former Director of the CIA, Robert Gates said the CIA picks on the weaker Islamic countries to avoid the consequences of attacking the more powerful nations.)

The CIA probably runs political action operations of one degree or another in the remaining Islamic states, particularly Iran and Syria. It also uses its surrogate, the National Endowment for Democracy, to conduct political action operations in about 90 countries from Africa to Latin America. The potential consequences of all this interventionism could be devastating. But we can be assured of one thing, the CIA will never understand what is happening.

I cannot think of more powerful arguments for the abolishment of the covert action operations of the CIA than those presented by the current state of the world, the nearly fifty years experiences of the CIA's misunderstanding of world events while exacerbating situations with its covert operations based on those misunderstandings.

When you have a superhawk such as Samuel Huntington recognizing the danger of further CIA interventions we all should all give his recommendations the most serious consideration.