John Stockwell is a former CIA officer who became a critic of United States government policies after serving seven tours of duty over thirteen years. Having managed American involvement in the Angolan Civil War as Chief of the Angola Task Force during its 1975 covert operations, he resigned and wrote In Search of Enemies and The Praetorian Guard: The U.S. Role in the New World Order. 

The documentary discussed in the interview is Inside The CIA: On Company Business. The disingenuous Tom Braden, original co-host of CNN’s Crossfire with Pat Buchanan, may not be as well known to many of you. He was a former intelligence operative with the OSS during WWII, and later a high ranking CIA official close to director Allen Dulles — playing an important role in the Agency’s massive media manipulation Operation Mockingbird, and the post-WWII secret CIA funding of American Federation of Labor leader Irving Brown who paid off top Corsican gangsters in Marseilles to organize against Communist Party dockworkers to establish a foothold for delivery of Marshall Plan goods delivered to France. (See Tom Braden at 20:53 on this video). This crucial covert relationship cemented the Corsican control of Marseilles as the leading heroin way station in what became known as the French Connection of the international narcotics trade over the next several decades. Braden later wrote about his experiences, defending his activities in a classic Saturday Evening Post article, “I’m Glad The CIA Is ‘Immoral’,” which outraged his old boss Dulles. Braden was a longtime Council on Foreign Relations member; one of his best friends was Henry Kissinger.

In 1975, Senator Frank Church appeared on Meet the Press and raised serious concerns about the capabilities of the United States intelligence community. As the chairman of the Church Committee, which was a senate probe into government intelligence activities, he notes the dual importance of gathering data on potential enemies of the nation while respecting the privacy of American citizens. Though forty two years have passed, the recent controversy surrounding Edward Snowden and NSA surveillance makes these prophetic and searing remarks as relevant as ever.

The Best of Charles Burris