The CIA Has Been Lying to Its Own Employees for Decades

By Derrick Broze

A new report has revealed that for years top officials with the Central Intelligence Agency have intentionally deceived some of their employees by circulating memos with false information, a practice known as “eyewash.”

Interviews of current and ex-CIA officials conducted by the Washington Post detail how the tactic is an important but apparently infrequent security tool that helps protect important secrets by inserting fake communications into routine cable traffic. The actual, accurate information is then communicated on separate channels.

The Post writes:

Senate investigators uncovered apparent cases of eyewashing as part of a multi-year probe of the CIA’s interrogation program, according to officials who said that the Senate Intelligence Committee found glaring inconsistencies in CIA communications about classified operations, including drone strikes.

At least two eyewashing cases are cited in the classified version of the committee’s final report, according to officials who have reviewed the document. In one instance, leaders at CIA headquarters sent a cable to the agency’s station in Pakistan saying operators there were not authorized to pursue a potentially lethal operation against the alleged al-Qaeda operative known as Abu Zubaida. But a second set of instructions sent to a smaller circle of recipients told them to disregard the other message and that the mission could proceed.

The Post says that references to eyewash date back to the 19th century in books on spying, as well as more recent Hollywood movies such as Argo. One official who has seen the Senate report said, “The people in the outer levels who didn’t have insider access were being lied to. They were being intentionally deceived.”

Five former “high-ranking CIA officials” said they have never heard of eyewash nor had they seen it used in internal communications. Fred Hitz, a former CIA inspector general, told the Post that someone might make a decision based on false information and said the tactic was equivalent to “playing with fire.” Other officials interview by the Post said the program has a significant potential for abuse.

Another government official who claims to have seen the practice said that in his career of more than two decades he had “only seen maybe five or six” eyewash cables. So far, the CIA has refused to comment on the Washington Post story.

Federal laws exist which make it illegal for a government employee to lie or falsify statements in an official record. Somehow, the CIA has managed to become so far above the law that they are able to lie to their own employees and compartmentalize it in such a fashion that the left hand never knows what the right hand is doing.

Which leads me back to my original question – How do you trust a government that lies to its own employees?

Every informed person already knows the U.S. government lies to, steals from, and monitors the people of this land. Maybe some of the readers believed this was a practice that ended once you worked on the inside of government. Perhaps you thought the lies are just a necessary part of politics in American life but had some faith in government, believing that it could not truly operate behind a wall of secrecy.

However, now that our knowledge is broadened we have a deeper understanding of the situation. The U.S. government is full of liars and crooks. Yes, there are a few people who believe they can change things from the inside, but they are misguided. Changing presidents or “representatives” will not eliminate the Deep State, the hidden power elite which work within the various bureaucracies of government. This is not conspiracy.

The State exists only to serve its own ends and this includes creating programs like “eyewash” which allow individuals to hide their true intentions and further confuse the population. There are literally thousands of government employees in positions of power who will never be elected or decided by the people. These unknown servants of the State make decisions that affect government policies and thus your life.

If we are to create change in ways that benefit the individual and the community at large we must first recognize that government is no friend of a free, happy, and virtuous life. Shake off the chains of the CIA, the FBI, the DEA, the IRS, the NSA, and all other government pawns and claim your freedom.

This article (The CIA Has Been Lying to Its Own Employees for Decades) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Derrick Broze and theAntiMedia.org. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. If you spot a typo, email [email protected].