Article Reflection No. 27 (10/9/2022)

Has the C.I.A. Done More Harm Than Good?

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Reflection:

In the The New Yorker article “Has the C.I.A. Done More Harm Than Good?” by Amy Davidson Sorkin, the writer illustrates the complexity behind the renowned agency’s history as well as its current state of mind. According to Sorkin, the Office of Strategic Services (O.S.S.) did not smoothly evolve into the C.I.A. as an aftermath of World War II. Under William J. Donovan, the O.S.S. was ordered to follow through on agendas that were filled with risks and minimal benefits. Noticeably, the article informs the reader how “[Donovan’s] staff called him Seabiscuit, after the thoroughbred, because of his tendency to race around, engaging in what was basically war tourism” (Sorkin 9). “Strategic thinking bored him,” Sorkin writes.

To further support her claim, the journalist refers to the C.I.A. during the Vietnam War: “[when the agency] had discouraging intelligence to offer…when successive Administrations didn’t want to hear it, [they] focused on being helpful by providing those supposedly quick fixes…abetting a coup in 1963, spying on antiwar protestors, and launching the Phoenix Program, an anti-Vietcong campaign marked by torture and by arbitrary executions” (Sorkin 18).

I don’t know much about the C.I.A., and I still know too little to make an assertive claim about the agency. This article has brought a new perspective, and I am so grateful for that, since it shows how there are so many facets to everything, whether it may be beneficial or derogatory. For me, hearing about a coup (as mentioned in the second paragraph) reminds me of the Gwangju Uprising, a democratization movement in South Korea during the 1980s. The C.I.A. helping a coup is disturbing to me, given that it is an agency holding such a big responsibility in the U.S. However, I’ll focus on the agency’s actions that have benefited humanity and its for-good interests.

Note: There were lots of unfamiliar Vocab, so I added it to the VOCAB document! Don’t worry, they’re not lost :)