CIA activities in Russia and Europe
Encyclopedia
This article deals with the activities of the United States
Central Intelligence Agency
in Russia
and Europe
.
/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a radio and communications organization funded by the United States Congress. It contrasts with the official US Voice of America
.
It was founded in 1950 by the National Committee for a Free Europe. This Free Europe Committee, headed by John Foster Dulles
, was an instrument of the CIA until RFE received its funds from the Congress of the United States and until 1971 they were passed to RFE through the CIA. During the earliest years of Radio Free Europe's existence, the CIA and the U.S. State Department issued broad policy directives, and a system evolved where broadcast policy was determined through negotiation between the CIA, the U.S. State Department, and RFE staff.
This system continued until the controversy surrounding Radio Free Europe's broadcasts to Hungary during the 1956 revolt. There is some evidence, however, that the CIA did involve itself in RFE projects at least through the mid-1950s.
The CIA funding of RFE ended in 1971 at which point the organization was rechartered in Newton as a non-profit corporation, oversight was moved to the Board for International Broadcasting (BIB), and the budget was moved to open appropriations.
In 1990, RFE shared European offices with the Voice of America
. In contrast to the Cold War days when both were jammed by the Soviets,
Where they once relied on underground reports material from other publications, and reports from other publications, RFE now has 19 bureaus throughout Europe, as well as 750 independent reporters.
, led by the Soviet Union
, would attack and overrun Western Europe
. From 1945 to 1948, there were ad hoc military stay-behind
plans (see Clandestine HUMINT and Covert Action
). In 1948, the Office of Policy Coordination
(OPC) was formed, under interagency but not CIA direction, to run behind-the-lines operations, probably including covert action
behind the Iron Curtain
. The separate Office of Special Operations had intelligence-gathering responsibilities.
A clandestine "stay-behind
" operation was set up to counter a Warsaw Pact
invasion of Western Europe, using US and UK unconventional warfare specialists in the NATO participants. "Gladio" specifically referred to the network in Italy
. Various Wikipedia articles assert the creation of Gladio-linked operations, see the articles for Belgian stay-behind network
(Belgium), François de Grossouvre
(France), Column 88
(UK), Grey Wolves
(Turkey), and Projekt-26
(Switzerland).
Note that Switzerland was not in NATO. Projekt-26 personnel took courses from MI6, but there is no indication that MI6 had any operational control over Projekt-26.
In 1952, the CIA Directorate of Plans was formed from the merger of OPC and OSO. United States Army Special Forces
were established in June 1952, with the 10th Special Forces Group deploying to Bad Tölz, West Germany, in September. Special Forces had stay-behind unconventional warfare
as one of their basic missions.
In 1967 it was revealed that the Congress of Cultural Freedom, founded in 1950, had been sponsored by the CIA. It published literary and political journals such as Encounter
(as well as Der Monat in Germany
and Preuves in France
), and hosted dozens of conferences bringing together some of the most eminent Western thinkers; it also gave some assistance to intellectuals behind the Iron Curtain. The CIA states that, "Somehow this organization of scholars and artists — egotistical, free-thinking, and even anti-American in their politics — managed to reach out from its Paris headquarters to demonstrate that Communism, despite its blandishments, was a deadly foe of art and thought".
On 24 January 2006, Dick Marty
, the Council of Europe
(CoE) Rapporteur on secret detentions and transport of alleged "enemy combatant
s" by the CIA, delivered his interim report concluding that European countries were almost certainly aware of CIA activities in Europe. On 22 February, the CoE Secretary General Terry Davis announced that most member states had replied to his questions concerning alleged CIA activities in Europe and that he would present his analysis on 1 March.
in Poland
near Szczytno-Szymany International Airport
.
was the primary target of the CIA, just as the US was the "main enemy" to the Soviet KGB
and GRU
. Hostility was developing as the Second World War ended.
Due to the breakup of the Soviet bloc and individual countries thereof, such as Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia, it can be challenging to track CIA analysis from, say, Yugoslavia to Bosnia. There is a collection, by the National Intelligence Council, the estimative group now under the DNI, of a number of analytic reports on Yugoslavia, including at least one by a CIA critic: http://www.dni.gov/nic/foia_yugoslavia_chrono.html
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.
Radio Free Europe (gray psychological operations)
Radio Free EuropeRadio Free Europe
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is a broadcaster funded by the U.S. Congress that provides news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the Middle East "where the free flow of information is either banned by government authorities or not fully developed"...
/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a radio and communications organization funded by the United States Congress. It contrasts with the official US Voice of America
Voice of America
Voice of America is the official external broadcast institution of the United States federal government. It is one of five civilian U.S. international broadcasters working under the umbrella of the Broadcasting Board of Governors . VOA provides a wide range of programming for broadcast on radio...
.
It was founded in 1950 by the National Committee for a Free Europe. This Free Europe Committee, headed by John Foster Dulles
John Foster Dulles
John Foster Dulles served as U.S. Secretary of State under President Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 to 1959. He was a significant figure in the early Cold War era, advocating an aggressive stance against communism throughout the world...
, was an instrument of the CIA until RFE received its funds from the Congress of the United States and until 1971 they were passed to RFE through the CIA. During the earliest years of Radio Free Europe's existence, the CIA and the U.S. State Department issued broad policy directives, and a system evolved where broadcast policy was determined through negotiation between the CIA, the U.S. State Department, and RFE staff.
This system continued until the controversy surrounding Radio Free Europe's broadcasts to Hungary during the 1956 revolt. There is some evidence, however, that the CIA did involve itself in RFE projects at least through the mid-1950s.
The CIA funding of RFE ended in 1971 at which point the organization was rechartered in Newton as a non-profit corporation, oversight was moved to the Board for International Broadcasting (BIB), and the budget was moved to open appropriations.
In 1990, RFE shared European offices with the Voice of America
Voice of America
Voice of America is the official external broadcast institution of the United States federal government. It is one of five civilian U.S. international broadcasters working under the umbrella of the Broadcasting Board of Governors . VOA provides a wide range of programming for broadcast on radio...
. In contrast to the Cold War days when both were jammed by the Soviets,
On a recent morning, about 30 staff members of Radio Moscow were waiting in the entrance lobby, which like all United States Government offices abroad is carefully guarded against terrorist attacks, to be taken on a tour of the building and meet Radio Liberty's broadcasters. Inside, three Czechoslovak journalism students are serving an internship, writing theses about the station for Prague University and contributing broadcast scripts.
Where they once relied on underground reports material from other publications, and reports from other publications, RFE now has 19 bureaus throughout Europe, as well as 750 independent reporters.
Western Europe
After World War II, there was serious concern that the Warsaw PactWarsaw Pact
The Warsaw Treaty Organization of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance , or more commonly referred to as the Warsaw Pact, was a mutual defense treaty subscribed to by eight communist states in Eastern Europe...
, led by the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, would attack and overrun Western Europe
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
. From 1945 to 1948, there were ad hoc military stay-behind
Stay-behind
In a stay-behind operation, a country places secret operatives or organisations in its own territory, for use in the event that the territory is overrun by an enemy. If this occurs, the operatives would then form the basis of a resistance movement, or would act as spies from behind enemy lines...
plans (see Clandestine HUMINT and Covert Action
Clandestine HUMINT and Covert Action
National governments deal in both intelligence and military special operations functions that either should be completely secret , or simply cannot be linked to the sponsor...
). In 1948, the Office of Policy Coordination
Office of Policy Coordination
The Office of Policy Coordination was a United States covert psychological operations and paramilitary action organization. Created as an independent office in 1948, it was merged with the Central Intelligence Agency in 1951....
(OPC) was formed, under interagency but not CIA direction, to run behind-the-lines operations, probably including covert action
behind the Iron Curtain
Iron Curtain
The concept of the Iron Curtain symbolized the ideological fighting and physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1989...
. The separate Office of Special Operations had intelligence-gathering responsibilities.
A clandestine "stay-behind
Stay-behind
In a stay-behind operation, a country places secret operatives or organisations in its own territory, for use in the event that the territory is overrun by an enemy. If this occurs, the operatives would then form the basis of a resistance movement, or would act as spies from behind enemy lines...
" operation was set up to counter a Warsaw Pact
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Treaty Organization of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance , or more commonly referred to as the Warsaw Pact, was a mutual defense treaty subscribed to by eight communist states in Eastern Europe...
invasion of Western Europe, using US and UK unconventional warfare specialists in the NATO participants. "Gladio" specifically referred to the network in Italy
Gladio in Italy
While "stay-behind" anti-communist networks existed in all NATO countries, the Italian branch of Operation Gladio was the first one to be discovered. It was set up under Minister of Defense Paolo Taviani's supervision...
. Various Wikipedia articles assert the creation of Gladio-linked operations, see the articles for Belgian stay-behind network
Belgian stay-behind network
The Belgian stay-behind network, colloquially called "Gladio" was a secret mixed civilian and military unit, trained to form a resistance movement in the event of a Soviet invasion and part of a network of similar organizations in NATO-countries...
(Belgium), François de Grossouvre
François de Grossouvre
François de Grossouvre was a French politician charged in 1981 by newly-elected president François Mitterrand with overseeing national security and other sensitive matters, in particular those concerning Lebanon, Syria, Tunisia, Morocco, Gabon, the Persian Gulf countries, Pakistan and the two Koreas...
(France), Column 88
Column 88
Column 88 was a neo-nazi paramilitary organization based in the United Kingdom. It was formed in the early 1970s, and disbanded in the early 1980s. The members of Column 88 undertook military training under the supervision of a former Royal Marine Commando, and also held regular gatherings attended...
(UK), Grey Wolves
Grey Wolves
The Idealist Youth , commonly known as Grey Wolves , is an ultra-nationalist neo-fascist youth organization. It is accused of terrorism. According to Turkish authorities, the organization carried out 694 murders between 1974–1980.-Name:...
(Turkey), and Projekt-26
Projekt-26
Projekt-26, best known as P-26, was a stay-behind army in Switzerland charged with countering a possible invasion of the country. The existence of P-26 as secret intelligence agencies dissimulated in the military intelligence agency was revealed in November 1990 by the PUK EMD Parliamentary...
(Switzerland).
Note that Switzerland was not in NATO. Projekt-26 personnel took courses from MI6, but there is no indication that MI6 had any operational control over Projekt-26.
In 1952, the CIA Directorate of Plans was formed from the merger of OPC and OSO. United States Army Special Forces
United States Army Special Forces
The United States Army Special Forces, also known as the Green Berets because of their distinctive service headgear, are a special operations force tasked with six primary missions: unconventional warfare, foreign internal defense, special reconnaissance, direct action, hostage rescue, and...
were established in June 1952, with the 10th Special Forces Group deploying to Bad Tölz, West Germany, in September. Special Forces had stay-behind unconventional warfare
Unconventional warfare
Unconventional warfare is the opposite of conventional warfare. Where conventional warfare is used to reduce an opponent's military capability, unconventional warfare is an attempt to achieve military victory through acquiescence, capitulation, or clandestine support for one side of an existing...
as one of their basic missions.
In 1967 it was revealed that the Congress of Cultural Freedom, founded in 1950, had been sponsored by the CIA. It published literary and political journals such as Encounter
Encounter (magazine)
Encounter was a literary magazine, founded in 1953 by poet Stephen Spender and early neoconservative author Irving Kristol. The magazine ceased publication in 1991...
(as well as Der Monat in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and Preuves in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
), and hosted dozens of conferences bringing together some of the most eminent Western thinkers; it also gave some assistance to intellectuals behind the Iron Curtain. The CIA states that, "Somehow this organization of scholars and artists — egotistical, free-thinking, and even anti-American in their politics — managed to reach out from its Paris headquarters to demonstrate that Communism, despite its blandishments, was a deadly foe of art and thought".
On 24 January 2006, Dick Marty
Dick Marty
Dick Marty is a Swiss politician and former state prosecutor of the canton of Ticino. He is a member of the Swiss Council of States , and a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.-Education:Marty holds a doctorate in law from the University of Neuchâtel with the thesis:...
, the Council of Europe
Council of Europe
The Council of Europe is an international organisation promoting co-operation between all countries of Europe in the areas of legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation...
(CoE) Rapporteur on secret detentions and transport of alleged "enemy combatant
Enemy combatant
Enemy combatant is a term historically referring to members of the armed forces of the state with which another state is at war. Prior to 2008, the definition was: "Any person in an armed conflict who could be properly detained under the laws and customs of war." In the case of a civil war or an...
s" by the CIA, delivered his interim report concluding that European countries were almost certainly aware of CIA activities in Europe. On 22 February, the CoE Secretary General Terry Davis announced that most member states had replied to his questions concerning alleged CIA activities in Europe and that he would present his analysis on 1 March.
Eastern Europe
Poland
In 2003, the CIA interrogated Khalid Sheikh Mohammed at a black siteBlack site
In military terminology, a black site is a location at which an unacknowledged black project is conducted. Recently, the term has gained notoriety in describing secret prisons operated by the United States Central Intelligence Agency , generally outside of U.S. territory and legal jurisdiction. It...
in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
near Szczytno-Szymany International Airport
Szczytno-Szymany International Airport
Szczytno-Szymany International Airport is a currently inoperative Polish regional airport located in the village Szymany, some 10 km from the center of the city of Szczytno in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship in the North of Poland. It is the only airport in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship...
.
Soviet Union and Post-Soviet states
Until its collapse, the Soviet UnionSoviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
was the primary target of the CIA, just as the US was the "main enemy" to the Soviet KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
and GRU
GRU
GRU or Glavnoye Razvedyvatel'noye Upravleniye is the foreign military intelligence directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation...
. Hostility was developing as the Second World War ended.
Due to the breakup of the Soviet bloc and individual countries thereof, such as Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia, it can be challenging to track CIA analysis from, say, Yugoslavia to Bosnia. There is a collection, by the National Intelligence Council, the estimative group now under the DNI, of a number of analytic reports on Yugoslavia, including at least one by a CIA critic: http://www.dni.gov/nic/foia_yugoslavia_chrono.html