Spies and Spooks: The (Mis)Adventures of the CIA

War and Peace with the Soviet Union
U.S. military personnel in 1974 work next to encrypting devices used for secure communications with Moscow. During the Cold War, the CIA was key to keeping track of Soviet strategic moves. The CIA faced crises when Moscow launched Sputnik and shot down a U.S. U-2 spy plane. But it went on the offensive as well: overthrowing the elected Marxist government of Chilean President Salvador Allende (albeit a move at which Moscow shrugged) and arming the Afghan mujahedin to defeat the invading Soviet army — a strategy that unfortunately helped give rise to al-Qaeda.

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