• Bread_In_Baltimore [he/him]
      ·
      4 years ago

      Yeah, basically from the jump they gave them power to essentially do anything. Once you remove civilian oversight and allow them to keep things secret they're just going to act with impunity.

      • PhaseFour [he/him]
        ·
        edit-2
        4 years ago

        They had autonomy from the US, but they did not control the US. It took awhile for the higher ups in the US government to be replaced with CIA loyalists.

        Eisenhower could've fired Dulles without getting Oswald'd, Kennedy could not.

    • HarryLime [any]
      hexagon
      ·
      4 years ago

      Oh, they were always shit, but they, and the rest of the deep state, didn't always have total control over US foreign policy.

    • cracksmoke2020 [none/use name]
      ·
      4 years ago

      They've gotten much more powerful over the years due to decline in the size of foreign intellegence agencies and ballooning budgets during the Bush years.