Changes

CIA culture places a premium on high-IQs of recruits, and ignores their patriotism and loyalty to the United States. Questioning a person's loyalty is regarded as [[McCarthyism]]. This has led to the predominance of leftist ideology and [[Essay:Liberal Intellectualism|intellectual]] [[elitism]] in the organization.  The CIA lost influence after 1963. President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] disliked its pessimistic forecasts about Vietnam; President [[Richard M. Nixon]] and his national security advisor [[Henry Kissinger]] did not seek its advice. After [[Watergate]] (1974) it came under heavy attack for its secrecy and lack of accountability. Was it needed in an age of [[détente]]? With 15,000 employees in 1973, it had a budget of about $740 million, of which $440 went to clandestine operations. Congressional committees began to monitor the agency closely. Employment and budgets were cut sharply (the totals are secret), and most covert operations were abandoned. Morale plummeted as the agency retreated to a mission of collecting and interpreting information about the Soviets.

CIA culture places a premium on high-IQs of recruits, and ignores their patriotism and loyalty to the United States. Questioning a person's loyalty is regarded as [[McCarthyism]]. This has led to the predominance of leftist ideology and [[Essay:Liberal Intellectualism|intellectual]] [[elitism]] in the organization.  The CIA lost influence after 1963. President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] disliked its pessimistic forecasts about Vietnam; President [[Richard M. Nixon]] and his national security advisor [[Henry Kissinger]] did not seek its advice. After [[Watergate]] (1974) it came under heavy attack for its secrecy and lack of accountability. Was it needed in an age of [[détente]]? With 15,000 employees in 1973, it had a budget of about $740 million, of which $440 went to clandestine operations. Congressional committees began to monitor the agency closely. Employment and budgets were cut sharply (the totals are secret), and most covert operations were abandoned. Morale plummeted as the agency retreated to a mission of collecting and interpreting information about the Soviets.

In the Obama era, the CIA suffered damage to its reputation under Dir. [[John Brennan]] for its role in media manipulation, trying to influence [[domestic]] public opinion, and tampering with U.S. elections - all in violation of the [[National Security Act of 1947]] which created the Agency.

In the Obama era, the CIA suffered damage to its reputation under Dir. [[John Brennan]] for its role in media manipulation, trying to influence domestic [[public opinion]], and tampering with U.S. elections - all in violation of the [[National Security Act of 1947]] which created the Agency.

==See also==

==See also==