How Deep is the “Deep State”

The origins of the CIA can be traced back to the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) during World War II, which embraced unconventional tactics to maintain national security. After the war, concerns over resource allocation and civil liberties led to the dismantling of spy agencies. However, with the growing tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union, President Truman was pressured to create a new intelligence agency, the CIA, in 1947. The speaker discusses how the CIA’s power and influence grew significantly during the Cold War, leading to secretive and often illegal activities, such as covert operations, assassination plots, and mind control experiments. The accumulation of harmful personal information on many people was used as leverage to blackmail lawmakers and prevent investigations into the agency’s activities. The power was concentrated among a few, mostly unelected individuals living in Georgetown, leading to concerns about the potential misuse of power and the erosion of democratic values. The Church Committee investigation in the 1970s uncovered shocking revelations of domestic surveillance, assassination plots, and attempts to disrupt and neutralize organizations and individuals.