Covert Action

Intelligence operations have been used by the United States since the inception of this country. Every battle the U.S. fought used some form of intelligence. Covert Action (CA) was used in every battle, it was officially documented by an intelligence organization during World War II. This paper will address the question, does having the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) as the responsible body for carrying out covert action create a conflict of interest when it is responsible for both covert/overt action for the purpose of collecting and feeding information for strategic analysis. Declassified reports and historical reference will be consulted to attest the success of co-locating the responsibility for both strategic analysis and covert
The answer to this question is no. As confirmed in the above paragraph, a historical review from the British, covert/overt activity is best undertaken by the nation. In 1942 the Office of Strategic Services was established, now known as the CIA. At the core, the OSS conducted missions in other countries to accomplish a US foreign policy objective without the hand of the US government becoming known or apparent to the outside world. (Snider Updated 2012) There has always been some form of congressional or presidential awareness from 1948, the Bay of Pigs, too current operation. From 1951 until 1960 the OSS was undocumented in the involvement operation in Iran codenamed TPAJAX, coups in Guatemalan to overthrow Arbenz, and the escape/smuggling operation of the Dalai Lama from Tibet. The OSS remained true to their mission. The first documentation found was when the OSS briefed Congress of CA in 1948 the advance of the Bay of Pigs operation. It is important to note that the plan was not official until 1960, when President Eisenhower officially directed the OSS to come up with a covert plan to get rid of Fidel Castro. The Agency was authorized conduct irregular warfare in 1960 to build up a guerilla force within the country to kill Castro and take over Cuba. The OSS was successful in gathering, equipping, and training 1,000 exiled Cubans. On 15 April 1961 the operation commenced
Without the involvement of the U.S. military the CIA conducted a covert operation supplying the Laotian government troops who were resisting the Pathet Laos, the Laotian communist party. Through the course of the operation the CIA is recorded to have briefed more than 50 Senators with Senator Stuart Symington approval to the whole Armed Service Committee on the status of the program. In 1970, the Laotian communist party along with North Vietnamese troops controlled much of the country. In an effort to strengthen the resistance, the CIA, began introducing paid Thai troops it had trained and equipped. The Armed Service Committee leaders were worried that because the CIA had provided the antiwar members of Congress ammunition. Also, they were concerned with the overall budget of the CIA. At this time President Nixon and his administration were charged with financing the war in South Vietnam through the CIA to avoid public scrutiny. In 1971, later after the invasion of Laos, Congress approved an amendment giving a budget cap for the US in Laos. The CIA was not mentioned in the amendment until later in a sanitized report explaining the CIA’s involvement. Remaining true to the original mission set of the OSS, the CIA was quietly praised for their influence in Laos and terminated its operation after the 1973 peace agreements were