Covert operations in the United States

Resources

See Also

Congressional Power; Intelligence and Counterintelligence; Intervention and Nonintervention; National Security Council; Presidential Power .

Bay of Pigs

Church Committee

CIA (United States Central Intelligence Agency)

Vietnam War

Further Reading (Books)

Higgins, Trumbull. The Perfect Failure: Kennedy, Eisenhower, and the CIA at the Bay of Pigs. New York, 1987. Presents a detailed analysis of one of the most spectacular covert operations failures.

Johnson, Loch K. Secret Agencies: U.S. Intelligence in a Hostile World. New Haven, Conn., 1996. An overview of intelligence with insightful comments on covert operations.

Kwitney, Jonathon. Endless Enemies: The Making of an Unfriendly World. New York, 1984. Shows several examples of a process by which covert operations rebound to the detriment of the United States.

Moser, Charles, ed. Combat on Communist Territory. Washington, D.C., 1985. Essays that examine progress in various countries at the high point of Reagan-era covert operations.

Prados, John. Presidents’ Secret Wars: CIA and Pentagon Covert Operations from World War II Through the Persian Gulf. An in-depth survey of covert operations in which the author demonstrates common features and problems of use of these techniques. Rev. ed. Chicago, 1996.

Shackley, Theodore. The Third Option: An American View of Counterinsurgency Operations. New York, 1981. Argues for covert operations as a cost-effective alternative to military action.

Treverton, Gregory F. Covert Action: The Limits of Intervention in the Postwar World. New York, 1987. An investigator for the Church Committee warns of the inadequacies of covert action.

Further Reading (Articles)

Covert operation, or clandestine? LANGUAGE, International Herald Tribune; February 14, 2005; William Safire

FACE NOW HAS EYES AS WELL ; Covert Operation on Social Networking Siteto Catch Crooks Selling Dodgy Goods, Sunday Sun – Newcastle-upon-Tyne; November 25, 2012; Scott, Sarah

EDITORIAL: US Covert Operation, The Nation (Karachi, Pakistan); July 24, 2010

Iran is not Waziristan: Pakistan-like covert operation in Iran can’t be productive., The Nation (Karachi, Pakistan); June 30, 2008

Internal U.S. Probe Faults Policy on Bosnian Arms; But Panel Found No Illegal Covert Operation, The Washington Post; April 16, 1996; Ann Devroy

U.S. Units Attacking Al Qaeda In Pakistan; Covert Operation Straddles Border, The Washington Post; April 25, 2002; Dana Priest and Thomas E. Ricks

White House: ‘Cuban Twitter’ Was Not Covert Operation, States News Service; April 3, 2014

Thumbs up for local garages in covert operation., Bexhill Observer (Bexhill, England); April 22, 2010

COUNCIL USED SECRET CAMERAS TO CATCH PUB SMOKERS; Anti-Terror Legislation Used in Covert Operation to Enforce Cigarette Ban, Coventry Evening Telegraph (England); March 21, 2009; Malyon, Mike

`A Grand CIA Covert Operation In Angola’, The Washington Post; June 18, 1988

CIA Covert Operations May Increase, NPR All Things Considered; September 17, 1995

Covert operation leads to several arrests at spa, Glenview Announcements (IL); February 2, 2010; CATHRYN GRAN cgran@pioneerlocal.com

Nuclear Specialists Move Uranium; Covert Operation Transfers Material from Poland to Russia for Safety, The Washington Times (Washington, DC); August 10, 2006; Gertz, Bill

GARDAI have taken out a major distribution network for crack cocaine and heroin and arrested 45 people after officers went undercover in a covert operation lasting six months., Irish Independent (Dublin, Republic of Ireland); December 17, 2010

Covert Operation Caught Chat Room Paedophile, The Birmingham Post (England); January 19, 2002

In Covert Operation, Navy SEALS Take Control of Tanker Carrying Stolen Oil from Libya, The Washington Times (Washington, DC); March 18, 2014; Ybarra, Maggie

Covert Operation Snared ‘Drugs Gang’, Court Told ; News Digest, Belfast Telegraph; September 25, 2013

Horseman of the apocalypse; Afghanistan.(“Charlie Wilson’s War: The Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History–The Arming of the Mujahideen”)(Book Review), The Economist (US); April 26, 2003

4 A.M. KNOCK AT DOOR TRIGGERS COVERT OPERATION TO SNATCH SUSPECT IN CIA KILLINGS, The Buffalo News (Buffalo, NY); June 19, 1997; JOHN DIAMOND – Associated Press

Military, CIA Shun 9/11 Panel on Covert Operations; Special-Ops Lead Urged in Report, The Washington Times (Washington, DC); September 9, 2011; Gertz, Bill