"Do U.S. covert operation require more oversight?": a short journey in the world of CIA and the U.S. intelligence agencies, their covert operations, how they influenced history, and how the Congress tried to control them and to secure accountability. In the presentation I ask, and I try to explain, what is a covert operation, what is oversight, who does it, and how does it work, and the most famous cases in history of covert operations.

1. Stefano Basilico
American Foreign Policy 2014/15
Newcastle University

2. YES!

3. • High risk of failures and public embarrass
• Accountability to the representatives of the citizens/taxpayers
• Risk of illegal behaviour (The Enterprise)
• Tendency to decline the responsibilities

4. • “No, no, my boy, don’t tell me, just go ahead and do it, but I don’t want to
know” Senator John Stennis to DCI James Schlesinger
• “The business of the Congress was to stay the f**k out of my business”
DCI William Casey
• “Congress is informed to the degree that Congress wants to be informed”
DCI William Colby

5. • “[Oversight is] a review of the actions of federal departments, agencies, and
commissions, and of the programs and policies they administer, including
review that takes place during program and policy implementation as well as
afterward” Joel Aberbach
• “Oversights keep bureaucrats from doing something stupid”
Senator Whyche Fowler
• “Covert action is a phrase used to identify the pursuit of American foreign
policy objectives through secret intervention into the affairs of other nations”
Loch K. Jonhson

6. • Police patrolling: Congress examines a sample of agencies activities to
detect and remedy any violation, discouraging them (proactive stance)
• Problems? Common interest with the agencies and lack of time
• Firefighting: Congress establishes rules, procedures and informal
practice that enable citizens to examine administrative decisions
(reactive stance)
• Problems? Access to restricted documents, “scandal” effect

7. • Propaganda: From discrediting foreign leaders to books and leaflets
• Political Ops: Financial and political aid to foreign “friendly” parties
• Economic Ops: Disrupt secretly enemies economies (e.g. Cuban sugar, Chile,
North Vietnam, Nicaragua)
• Paramilitary Ops: Sponsoring, funding and training guerrillas

8. • HPSCI, House Permanent Selected Committee on Intelligence
• SSCI, Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
• President, after Huges-Ryan Act (1974) give his finding to the operation
abroad
• “Gang of 8”, Urgent and secret issues, Chairmen and minority members of the
Committee, Speaker and minority leader of the House, leaders of the Senate

9. • Trust (1947 – 1974)
• Uneasy Partnership (1975 – 1986)
• Distrust (1987 – 1992)
• Partisan Advocacy (1992 – 2001)
• Ambivalence (2002 - …?)

10. • RayMcGovern: controversial retired CIA analyst, often critical
• Julian Assange: founder of Wikileaks, published secret diplomatic cables and
classified documents
• Edward Snowden: leaked 1.7 mln of NSA classified documents unveiling mass
control (PRISM project)
• In July 2014 the CIA admitted to have been spying the SSCI (Sen. Feinstein and
Chambliss) on the agency detention and interrogation program

11. • Ethics and oversight obstacle the efficacy of intelligence?
• Are the covered operations in line with the Constitution? (e.g. drones
strikes on US Citizens abroad)
• Do covert operations constitute “quiet diplomacy”?
• The dilemma with unveiling military secrets: less safety or more
freedom?
• How could oversight be more effective?