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It was the exposure, and to some extent the misrepresentation, of these covert activities that got the CIA into so much trouble. While zealous agents sometimes overstepped legal limits, the agency more often took the rap for activities that were ordered or approved by higher authorities. The abortive Bay of Pigs invasion was approved by Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy. It is still debated whether Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson knew of or supported assassination attempts against foreign leaders, such as the bizarre plan to supply poisoned cigars to Fidel Castro. L.B.J. approved Operation Phoenix, in which agents directed the killing of Viet Cong terrorists. In Chile, the CIA gave money and other help to opponents of Marxist Salvador Allende. But there is no evidence connecting the CIA to the coup that overthrew and killed Allende in 1973, though the episode gave the U.S. a black eye. The CIA'S surveillance of American citizens was grossly exaggerated by much of the press. One clear abuse by the agency, which it apparently carried out totally on its own initiative, was experimenting with LSD and other drugs on unwitting victims.
Paradoxically, more is expected of the CIA just when its capabilities are being restricted. Last week, when a Soviet spy satellite broke up over Canada and invaded the atmosphere like a streak of fireballs, it served as a blazing reminder that the world remains a dangerous place, far from a Utopia where a democracy can conduct all its business openly.
Detente or no detente, the Soviet Union is a formidable antagonist that continues seeking power and influence, or at least the ability to apply pressure, all over the world. Spending a higher percentage of its gross national product on weaponry and troops than the U.S. does, Russia is striving to outstrip American military prowess in many areas. This means that a secret service capable of ferreting out Soviet intentions as well as capabilities is vital to U.S. security. Says Cord Meyer Jr., a much-decorated retired CIA official: "We need a very, very alert advance warning capability, not only for weapons but for times when Soviet leaders may have reached a decision or when they are tending toward a decision."
Good intelligence has made it possible to cooperate with Russia to contain the arms race. Mutual spying by satellite enables the U.S. and the Soviet Union to monitor the weaponry in each country and provide some prospect that the other side is not cheating. Says a State Department official: "The SALT initiatives would not have been possible without intelligence."
The rise of Third World forces has put an additional burden on American intelligence. Most of the new nations have authoritarian regimes that do not freely supply the kind of political and economic information that is routine in the West. If the U.S. expects to stay abreast of developments in these vast areas of the globe, it needs a sophisticated and sensitive intelligence apparatus. Says a former deputy director of the CIA: "Totalitarian countries can use naked power; an open society has to depend on its wits." On top of the normal tensions of national rivalry, there is now the added danger of international terrorism. The U.S. has escaped serious incidents so far, but it needs intelligence to help protect its allies from this latest scourge of political fanaticism.