Haven't read any of it but if you want you can because they're archived now at the National Security Archive that's run out of George Washington Univ. in D.C. Here's the link:
As I understand it almost all of the major stories released in these papers has already been out and probably can be read about in a good history of the CIA book. The information was put together in the 1970s because of the Church and Pike Committee investigations and Watergate which scared the shit out of the then CIA director because a bunch of the Cubans that got arrested were former CIA operatives used against Cuba and Fidel Castro. From what I understand, these new documents just add more details to what's already been known for a while by CIA followers.
I use to read a lot about the CIA, but haven't in a long time. Here are a couple recommended overviews of its history that probably cover a lot of what's in the newly released documents:
there is 4 page article in today's nyt that explains what happened during the johnson, nixon, ford administrations (with respect to the cia). in a nutshell, pre and post watergate, the cia was involved in many questionable, illegal and unethical programs, including: illegal wiretaps of journalists and critics of the war (sound familiar); assasination plots against fidel castro that involved ties with the italian mafia in the united states; watergate related activities; seeking agents who had expertise in illegal activities like "lock-picking" (see watergate); illegal detention of people without due process.
the nyt does a great job of comparing these activities with what the whitehouse has been accused of doing over the past 7 years (wire tapping, illegal detention/torture at gitmo, etc.). i'm not sure if you can access the article on the web, if so, check it out.
Wasn't the Castro plot hatched in 1960 with big JFK involvemnet, including his contact with Sam Giacana on both a social and political level??
Yeah, the plots to assassinate Castro begin with JFK. It involved the mafia and a whole bunch of other plots. The CIA tried a ridiculous amount of plans against him. My favorite was this one. Castro was known to enjoy diving and collecting shell fish so the CIA came up with this plan to plant a powder in his wet suit that would make his beard fall off. The CIA believed that this would humilate the Cuban leader and undermine his power in Cuba!
Wasn't the Castro plot hatched in 1960 with big JFK involvemnet, including his contact with Sam Giacana on both a social and political level??
Yeah, the plots to assassinate Castro begin with JFK. It involved the mafia and a whole bunch of other plots. The CIA tried a ridiculous amount of plans against him. My favorite was this one. Castro was known to enjoy diving and collecting shell fish so the CIA came up with this plan to plant a powder in his wet suit that would make his beard fall off. The CIA believed that this would humilate the Cuban leader and undermine his power in Cuba!
Comments
http://www.thememoryhole.org/
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB222/index.htm
As I understand it almost all of the major stories released in these papers has already been out and probably can be read about in a good history of the CIA book. The information was put together in the 1970s because of the Church and Pike Committee investigations and Watergate which scared the shit out of the then CIA director because a bunch of the Cubans that got arrested were former CIA operatives used against Cuba and Fidel Castro. From what I understand, these new documents just add more details to what's already been known for a while by CIA followers.
I use to read a lot about the CIA, but haven't in a long time. Here are a couple recommended overviews of its history that probably cover a lot of what's in the newly released documents:
Killing Hope - William Blum
President's Secret Wars - John Prados
the nyt does a great job of comparing these activities with what the whitehouse has been accused of doing over the past 7 years (wire tapping, illegal detention/torture at gitmo, etc.). i'm not sure if you can access the article on the web, if so, check it out.
Yeah, the plots to assassinate Castro begin with JFK. It involved the mafia and a whole bunch of other plots. The CIA tried a ridiculous amount of plans against him. My favorite was this one. Castro was known to enjoy diving and collecting shell fish so the CIA came up with this plan to plant a powder in his wet suit that would make his beard fall off. The CIA believed that this would humilate the Cuban leader and undermine his power in Cuba!
My fave was the Exploding Cigar