The CIA's Greatest Hits

by Mark Zepezauer, Arthur Naiman (Editor)

The CIA’s Greatest Hits details how the CIA:

• hired top Nazi war criminals, shielded them from justice and learned—and used—their techniques
• has been involved in assassinations, bombings, massacres, wars, death squads, drug trafficking, and rigged elections all over the world
• tortures children as young as 13 and adults as old as 89, resulting in forced “confessions” to all sorts of imaginary crimes (an innocent Kuwaiti was tortured for months to make him keep repeating his initial lies, and a supposed al-Qaeda leader was waterboarded 187 times in a single month without producing a speck of useful information)
• orchestrates the media—which one CIA deputy director liked to call “the mighty Wurlitzer”—and places its agents inside newspapers, magazines and book publishers
• and much more.

The CIA’s crimes continue unabated, and unpunished. The day before General David Petraeus took over as the twentieth CIA director, federal prosecutors announced that they were dropping 99 investigations into the deaths of people in CIA custody, leaving just two active cases they’re willing to pursue.

The first edition of The CIA’s Greatest Hits sold more than 38,000 copies. This fully revised and updated second edition contains six completely new chapters.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Politics, Conspiracy Theories, American, American History, Espionage

112 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1994

About the author

Mark Zepezauer is an author and cartoonist based in Tucson, Arizona. He is the author of Take the Rich Off Welfare and The CIA's Greatest Hits as well as the cartoon panel US History Backwards. On his shoulder he carries a Siamese cat.

Reviews

[Public Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

A whirlwind tour of the CIA's greatest alleged crimes. If half of this is true we should think long and hard about how much we really need covert operations. Their skewed view of the national interest puts us all in danger.

[Aidan Giordano · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okayyy I don’t know how much of this book is actually true because I don’t know anything about foreign affairs (yet ;)) but if ANY of it is true i am disgusted and ready now for everything to burn down.

[David Sarkies · Rating 3 out of 5]

And now for the comeback tour
23 September 2012

This is probably one of those books that I cannot get away with simply saying that I read it long ago and can't be bothered reading it again simply because a) I own the book and b) it pretty much takes only fifteen minutes to read, if that. My valid excuse as to not being able to read this book is that it is located in a plastic crate in a shed 700 kilometres from my present location, so unfortunately I actually do not have it at hand to reference what it actually says, but I suspect that I really do not need to do that because there is probably quite a lot I can say about the CIA anyway. However, I won't say anything about its history (which can be left for another book about the CIA that I read) but rather about some of the alleged schemes that they have allegedly performed.
This book goes through a number of the plots that the CIA have allegedly carried out though I can't remember what ones he specifically listed (apparently the bombing of the PAM-AM flight, which was linked to the Lybians, was one of them) but I sure can talk about some of the things that I do know. This book goes through a number of events that were performed by the precursor to the CIA up to operation Desert Storm, though I suspect there is some myth thrown into it as well. The suggestion is that they were acting on behalf of some shadowy organisation (known as the American Government) to keep certain people (namely foreign governments) in line and to remove other people (namely enemy combatants) from causing problems (for corporate America).
One incident involved the U2 spyplane which crashed over the Soviet Union. Initially it appeared that it was that the spyplane was shot down by the Russians because, well, it wasn't supposed to be there, however there is a suggestion that the CIA tipped the Russians off so that they could embarrass President Eisenhower. One would wonder why they would want to embarrass their boss, but the question I would like to put to you is haven't you ever wanted to embarrass your boss, especially if it creates an opening that you can then go in and fill. While this may not be the case with the President, the American Bureaucracy is huge and in reality the President does not control nearly all of it, and even if he does, he can find that the bureaucracy can and will fight back (as was the case with President Kennedy).
We all like to think that a wonderful country such as the United States could never sink so low as to do things like this, nor could they be controlled by some shadowy evil organisation, but we forget that the United States not only is an Imperial Superpower, but the President is not the be all and end all in government. Ignoring the conspiracy theorists, the President's powers are curtailed by both Congress and the Supreme Court, and while the President can issue executive orders to get around that (Cheney became an expert in that regard) he still has to have such support if he is to continue.
Also remember that (ignoring President Obama, who did come out of the slums) that the American electoral system is rigged so that only a certain type of person is able to become President, and that person needs to be nominated by one of the two big parties. No President, for over 150 years, has been elected from outside of one of these big parties. Secondly the electoral college means that the direct election of the President does not happen, so that puts a further dampener on the possibility that a popular candidate (like Hitler) could get into power. Mind you, it is still possible because despite the restrictions that the electoral college imposes, somebody that is able to garner 80% of the popular vote is going to be elected.
Now, about these conspiracy theories, and ignoring September 11, remember that in the past the United States Government has done things to get people to support it for a war. First was in 1917 with the sinking of the Lusitania. That was a set up, pure and simple. Basically a passenger liner taking civilians across the Atlantic was loaded with with military supplies, and the German's notified. Effectively they painted a big target on the ship that said 'sink me please'. Granted, the Germans should not have been stupid enough to actually sink the ship, but that is one point that I wish to make.



The second was before the Vietnam war known as the 'Gulf of Tonkin' incident. That was went an American Patrol boat was sunk by a torpedo allegedly fired by the NVA. The problem was that the NVA actually didn't have a functional navy, and even if they did, they would have unlikely to have been able to take a boat out into the middle of the Gulf of Tonkin, which was swarming with American Ships, and sink the boat.



Anyway, to finish off here, I want to put forward my belief regarding September 11th. Namely there are people out there who point to engineering reports and building seven, and what not to say that it was a government conspiracy. Well, maybe it was, but my position still is the moderate position, in that the CIA knew about it, and even told the president that it was going to happen, and did nothing about it. The reason I say this is because they needed such an incident to happen to, guess what, mobilise for war. The war they wanted was not the war in Afghanistan, but the war in Iraq. If it was a real conspiracy, why was it that they didn't make it appear that it was Sadam who ordered the attacks as opposed to Bin Laden? Further, why did they go to war in Afghanistan first as opposed to Iraq. Granted, they wanted to go to Iraq because, as Donald Rumsfeld saids 'there are better targets there', but they were pressured to go into Afghanistan instead. Secondly, when they did go into Iraq why didn't they find any weapons of mass destruction. Surely a government that could go to huge lengths to orchestrate the September 11th attacks could have easily planted a nuclear centrifuge and a bio-weapons lab in Iraq (and as if the average Joe Blow would know what a centrifuge looked like). Instead, they were embarrassed that they were wrong, and shifted their rhetoric from disarming Sadam, to regime change (when we all know it was pretty much about oil, and allow Halliburton to make an absolute killing from the no-bid contracts).

[Thomas Schulte · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is an easy to read fast overview of over 40 examples of the CIA's most heinous laundry. It goes from the OSS, pre-CIA days up to the Desert Storm era. There is plenty of bibliography to back up the rapid-fire, 2-page accounts of CIA-backed coups and such dirty tricks that were new to me as the U2 spy-plane incident done by the CIA to embarass Eisenhower and the Lockerbie Pan Am bombing a CIA ruse to kill key passengers before they could expose it.

In 2003, a year after this book was published, Gaddafi accepted Libya's responsibility for the Lockerbie bombing and paid compensation to the families of the victims, although he maintained that he had never given the order for the attack. Here, Zepezauer relates one of the Pan Am Flight 103 conspiracy theories> giving his succinct version of the CIA drug smuggling one:

Syrian terrorist Monzer al-Kassar had a great setup. He ran a Frankfurt-to-New York
heroin smuggling operation that netted him millions, and the whole thing was protected
by the CIA. This was payback for serving as a middleman in Oliver North's Iran/contra
deals (see Hit #34) and also in the hope that he'd use his influence to secure the release
of US hostages in Beirut. Al-Kassar's accomplice at the Frankfurt airport regularly
substituted a suitcase full of heroin for an identical suitcase checked onto a Pan Am
flight to New York.

Major Charles McKee, a CIA agent charged with rescuing US hostages in Beirut, was
outraged when he heard of the smuggling operation, and felt it could jeopardize his
mission. He complained bitterly to the CIA, but got only silence in reply. Impulsively,
and against CIA procedures, McKee and four other members of his team decided to fly
home and expose the deal with al-Kassar. Their flight connected with Pan Am Flight 103
in London.

On December 20, 1989, a German government agent in Frankfurt who was privy to the
heroin deal noticed that the switched suitcase being put onto Pan Am Flight 103 looked
completely different than it usually did. Aware that a bomb threat had been made against
the flight, he called his local CIA contact and asked what was up. "Don't worry about it,"
he was told. "Don't stop it. Let it go."

When Flight 103 left London, not only was the McKee team on board, but also a US
Justice department Nazi hunter and a UN diplomat mediating conflicts in southern
Africa. South Africa's foreign minister was booked on the flight as well, but luckily
cancelled at the last minute.

When the plane blew up over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270 people, a team of CIA
agents was on their way to the wreckage within the hour. Disguised as Pan Am
employees, they removed evidence from the crash site, then later returned it (or
something similar) to be rediscovered.

Initial investigations focused on Syria and Iran, with the possible motive being revenge
for an Iranian plane shot down by a US warship the previous July. But when Syria's
cooperation was needed during the Gulf War, the blame was shifted to our favorite
whipping boy, Libya ...

Pan Am conducted its own investigation, which uncovered the links to al-Kassar. But it
was unable to secure CIA documents on the case, and lost a massive lawsuit filed by the
families of Flight 103 victims. Soon after, it filed for bankruptcy.

Even PBS Frontline considers a connection to Iran, one that was avoided in serious US government exploration:

Though investigators say they never found hard evidence of an Iranian-Palestinian conspiracy, last year, an Iranian defector to Germany gave the theory new life when he claimed the attack was ordered by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomheini “to copy exactly what happened to the Iranian Airbus” that had been shot down by the U.S. warship.

This theory has proved durable and, for many, convincing. In its 800-page review of the Lockerbie evidence, the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission said the evidence found in the Frankfurt raid shortly before the Lockerbie bombing — including the Toshiba bomb and the flight timetable — led it to determine that “there was some evidence that could support an inference of involvement by” Palestinian terrorists.

Dr. Jim Swire, whose daughter was one of the 270 victims of Flight 103, is among those who believe Megrahi was innocent. Swire has repeatedly told reporters that he believes Iran was primarily responsible for the attack, and that the U.S. did not pursue this angle because officials wanted “to blame somebody, anybody, rather than Iran.”

Investigating the Iran link, says Swire, would have caused diplomatic problems at a time when Americans were negotiating over hostages in Lebanon...

From same and FWIW:

In 2007, the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission, after more than three years of investigating, validated several of these misgivings, concluding that “some of what we have discovered may imply innocence” and referred Megrahi’s case to an appeal court in the interests of avoiding “a miscarriage of justice.”

The commission rejected several points of contention raised by critics, saying they found no signs that evidence had been tampered with, that the Libyans had been framed, or that there had been “unofficial CIA involvement” in the investigation.

[Jennifer Riaz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book should be required reading for high school students. If that doesn’t happen, then this book should be required reading for college students. As part of developing critical thinking skills, and learning to question the government and its propaganda, this book would be a great tool in that process. It’s a small book and can be read cover to cover in less then an hour but it can certainly lead to further reading and research. The CIA is a lethal, unethical organization. Human lives are expendable and all that matters is protecting capitalism. The CIA is responsible for countless deaths and needs to Be reigned in.

[Bec · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was given this book, the perfect size to carry in your back pocket and read at work (if you have that kind of job). At first I thought the layout and design to be terrible and the comics cheesy. But the text is so devastating in such short, concise statements that the silly-looking cartoons actually balance it out.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you hate the CIA...this will only affirm and strengthen your hate. If you trust your government...you should read this book. If you wonder why so many people in the world hate the United States...you won't after reading this.

[sologdin · Rating 2 out of 5]

straightforward listing of a number of operations that the rightwing will mostly find it hard to deny without losing any credibility that they may as yet retain.

[Shuggy L. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Foreign affairs (author's point-of-view). Easy-to-read entries about US actions abroad. Useful timeline.

May need supplementation. Idiosyncratic. Some vagueness,"claims to have been told."

As he said last year in a speech in Saudi Arabia, “the so-called nation builders wrecked far more nations than they built, and the interventionalists were intervening in complex societies that they did not even understand themselves.” Trump in Saudi Arabia 2024.
...
Notes
#1 Eastern Europe 1943
Gehlen Org. Source of intelligence on Eastern Europe, ten years.

#2 Italy 1947
National Security Act of 1947. Operation Gladio (gladius, sword), paramilitary army in postwar Italy.

#3 Iran 1951
Dr. Mohammed Mossadegh, PM of Iran, nationalized oil companies. Operation Ajax, Shah of Iran, Reza Pahlavi.

#4 Guatemala 1951
From Jacobo Arbenz to Carlos Castillo Armas.

Appropriation of land, United Fruit Company, compensated. John Foster Dulles, State Department, "convinced Ike (Eisenhower) that Arbenz must go."

CIA Director, Allen Dulles. Operation Success led to undemocratic regimes over the next forty years.

#5 Mind 1953

#6 Congo 1960
Belgium, independence. Lumumba, prime minister, assassination. Change to Joseph Mobutu. Allan Dulles, Eisenhower.

#7 Hungary, U2 1960
A Hungarian uprising was not backed by Eisenhower. He warned against the military industrial complex.

A pilot, Gary Powers was shot down in a U-2C over the Soviet Union by a surface-to-air missile.

Peace summit (limited nuclear test bad treaty) scheduled between the US, the USSR (Khrushchev), Britain and France.

#8 Cuba 1961
Fidel Castro.

#9 JFK’s Death 1963

#10 Vietnam 1945-1963
France. Ngo Dinh Diem. Ho Chi Minh.

#11 Dominican 1961
Dominican Republic, Rafael Trujillo replaced Juan Bosch. JFK's doctrine, democratic, corrupt (Trujillo), communist (Bosch, Castro).

#12 Malcolm X, Death 1965
Angered others with comments about Lumumba, and American blacks (oppressed minority)

The coalition of the more radical and the more moderate wings of the black liberation movement never came to pass.

#13 Indonesia 1965
Suharto's actions can be compared to Turkey, Arminians 1915. Germany, Hitler 1945. Soviet Union, Stalin 1945. Guatemala, Armas (replaced Arbenz) 1951. Indonesia, Suharto (replaced Sukarno) 1965.

#14 Greece 1967
Colonels replaced George Papandreou; he and his son Andreas Papandreou, were committed independent nationalists.

Lyndon B. Johnson, spoke to the Greek ambassador, about Greek parliament and constitution.

#15 Martin Luther King’s Death 1969
James Earl Ray.

#16 Robert Kennedy’s Death 1969
Sirhan Sirhan.

#17 Chile 1973
From Salvador Allende to General Pinochet.

1970 President Nixon "ordered the CIA to prevent Allende's inaurguration".

CIA Director (1966-1973) Richard Helms (1913-2002). Patria y Libertad (PyL).

#18 Vietnam 1965
Gulf of Tonkin, off North Vietnam. Nine years, French. Nine years, Ngo Dinh Diem. Two further years. Operation Phoenix. National Liberation Front, Viet Cong.

#19 Laos 1957-1965
Panthet Lao, left, got votes. Then Armee Clandestine, aided by Thailand, Taiwan, South Korea, others.

#20 Cambodia 1970
Sihanouk, unwillingness to join a crusade against Communism. Lon Nol. Communist Khmer Rouge took power.

Khmer Rouge support after Vietnam invaded Cambodia in 1979 and for many years thereafter.

#21 Domestic Affairs 1960s

#22 Golden Triangle 1960s

#23 Watergate 1972

#24 Journalism 1981

#25 Angola 1975
Former Portuguese African colony. Zaire, US ally, back one faction. Soviets, LMPLA. Jonas Savimbi, South Africa. Henry Kissinger.

#26 Orlando Letelier's death 1976
Chilean diplomat, critic of Pinochet.
CIA Director George Bush: "No Chilean involvement."

#27 Committee Present Danger 1975
Truman told he would have to justify massive Cold War military spending. Overstated weaponry. The fall of the Soviet Union was not foreseen.

#28 Guyana, Cult 1978

#29 Iran 1980
Reagan/Bush, Iranian hostages.

#30 Libya 1980
Provision of weapons and training to Muamar al-Qadaffy. Indicted, Edwin Wilson, Frank Terpil.

Nixon, Kissinger supported Libyan 1969 coup. Ouster of pro-western monarch. Rise in oil prices, enriched oil companies, enabled Shah to buy arms.

#31 Grenada 1980
Maurice Rupert Bishop (1944 1983). Mildly social program. Reagan's Operation Urgent Fury led back to poverty.

#32 El Salvador 1980
Carlos Humberto Romero was the final president of the country's military dictatorship which began in 1931.

The U.S. had been Romero's biggest supporter, but by October 1979, the Carter administration decided that El Salvador needed regime change.

Oscar Romero (1917-1980), a priest, killed on orders by Roberto D'Aubuisson (El Mozote, Salvadorian army), had asked Carter to stop military support.

1980 -1992 Salvadoran Civil War. Government, president Alfredo Cristiani, FMLN, five guerrilla group commanders – Schafik Hándal, Joaquín Villalobos, Salvador Sánchez Cerén, Francisco Jovel and Eduardo Sancho, signed peace agreements brokered by the United Nations.

From 1989 until 2004, Salvadorans favoured the Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA), voting in ARENA presidents in every election (Alfredo Cristiani, Armando Calderón Sol, Francisco Flores Pérez, Antonio Saca) until 2009 (Mauricio Funes).
2014 Ceren.
2019 Nayib Bukele (2024 reelected).

Graham Greene: Pope John Paul II ... ""endure tyranny... than sedulously to resist" ... small comfort ... for the victims of the death squads in El Salvador or the victims of the Contras ... Somoza's National Guard, Nicaragua."

We (Roman Catholics/Communists) are fighting together ... in El Salvador ... in Nicaragua ... against General Pinochet in Chile. Portable GG.

#33 Nicaragua, Contras 1980
1936 Anastasio Somoza García (1896–1956) to 1956 (FDR).
In 1961, Carlos Fonseca, Casimiro Sotelo founded, Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN).
1967 Anastasio "Tachito" Somoza Debayle (1925-1980), president to 1972 and 1974-1979.
1979 Sandanistas (Carter aid), social reform projects.
Samoza's National Guard become the contras (Reagan, 1983 illegal funding).
1984 Sandanistas/Daniel Ortega (elected).
1990 Violeta Chamorro.
1994 Arnoldo Alemán.
2001 Enrique Bolaños.
2006 Daniel Ortega reelected.
2011 "
2016 " to present.

#34 Irán, Contras 1980
Reagan years, CIA Director (1981-1987) William Casey (1913-87).
Arms deals w/Muslim theocracy Iran. Oliver North, sold weapons, Iran, high prices. Buy arms for Nicaraguan contras.

#35 Pan Am Flight 103 1981
Major Charles McKee. Frankfurt to the US.

#36 Afghanistan 1979
Reagan years, against a dozen governments.
Afganistan, bipartisan support.
1979 Russian Invasion.
Ruler allowed CIA radar installations. Pliant regime, mullahs objected, Soviet reforms, female education, land reform. Heroin trade.
Guerilla groups - cash/weapons. Extremists. Sheik Abdel Rahman.
1989 Soviet withdrawal.
1992 Mujahideen factions.
1996 Taliban.
2001 US.
2021 Taliban again.

#37 South Pacific, Radiation 1993
Belau, 1979, anti-nuclear constitution.
Kanaky, 1989, occupied by French troops. Exiled, support, Vanuatu (New Hebredes).
Fiji,
1970, British. Pro-Us government, replaced in ...
1987, coup, progressive coalition, deposed in ...
1987, coup, CIA backed. Helicopters.
1990, GARD - unilateral/1970 constitution.
1992, Sitiveni Rabuka, from out of the 1987 coup.
1997 Mahendra Chaudhry, Indo-Fiji.
2000, George Speight, Commodore Frank Bainimarama assumed executive power after the resignation, possibly forced, of President Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara. Two mutinies.
2001, Interim Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase's Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua party.2005.
2006 Bainimarama. Coup.
2009 Bainimarama. Transfer of power.
2014 Bainimarama. Commonwealth of Nations.
2022 Sitiveni Rabuka, the head of the People's Alliance (PAP), became Fiji's 12th prime minister.

#38 BCCI 1990
Bank of Credit and Commerce International.
The Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) was an international bank founded in 1972 by Agha Hasan Abedi, a Pakistani financier.

BCCI came under the scrutiny of financial regulators and intelligence agencies in the 1980s, due to concerns that it was poorly regulated. Wikipedia.

Nugan Hand Bank, Australia.
Nugan Hand Bank was an Australian merchant bank that collapsed in 1980 after the suicide of one of its founders, Australian lawyer Francis John Nugan, resulting in a major scandal.

CIA Director (1966-73) Richard Helms (1913-2002), Vietnam.

CIA Director (1973-1976), William Colby. (1920-1996). Post-war Europe, Southeast Asia, Yom Kipur, mind control, domestic spying.

CIA Director, 15th (1991-3), Robert Gates (1943). In 1984, as deputy director of CIA, Gates advocated ... U.S. initiate a bombing campaign against Nicaragua ... U.S. do everything ... to remove the Sandinista government. Wikipedia

#39 Panama 1981
1955 Assassination of Panama's president (Vice-President Nixon).
1959 Manuel A Noriega, politics to Americans.
1966 Noriega employed by CIA.
1972 Noriega "irked Drug Enforcement and Administration, State Department. Israel. Cuba.
1976 CIA Director George Bush; Noriega visited in Washington.
1980 George Bush VP; Noriega, CIA payroll.
1981 Omar Torrijos, head of state, plane crash 1981 (Democratic Revolutionary Party).
1984 Panamanian elections.
1989 Noriega ambivalent to opposition, Sandinistas in Nicaragua. Operation Just Cause.
(1989 elections resulted, win, Guillermo Endara, head, anti-Noriega Democratic Alliance of Civic Opposition. Top Ten.)
1994-1999 Ernesto Pérez Balladares 1994 DRP - allowed US bases, onwards.
1999-2004 Mireya Elisa Moscoso Rodríguez (1946) Arnulfista
2004-2009 Martín Erasto Torrijos Espino (1963) DRP.
2009-2014 Ricardo Alberto Martinelli Berrocal (1951) Democratic Change, Realizing Goals
2014-2019 Juan Carlos Varela Rodríguez (1961). Panameñista.
2019-2024"Nito" Cortizo Cohen (1953) DRP.
José Raúl Mulino Quintero (1959) is a Panamanian politician, diplomat and lawyer serving as the 39th president of Panama since 2024.

#40* Iraq 1991
The Gulf War, armed conflict between Iraq and a 42-country coalition led by the United States.

The coalition's efforts were in two phases:
1.Operation Desert Shield, which marked the military buildup from August 1990 to January 1991;
2.and Operation Desert Storm, from the bombing campaign against Iraq on 17 January until the American-led liberation of Kuwait on 28 February.
Wikipedia

The dispute had started because Brent Scowcroft’s oil company in Kuwait, was slant drilling "oil from underneath Iraqi territory".

April Glaspie had said: "the US takes no position" on Iraq's dispute with Kuwait.

At the same time, the (George H. W.) Bush administration had called for "greater economic cooperation with Iraq and sold weapons to Saddam Hussein.

Back in 1989 CIA director William Webster had been talking to Kuwait's security chief; a CIA-linked think tank to Saddam Hussein (to pressure each other).

Outcome, regional destabilization (Gulf War - Shiites/south, Kurdish/north), further Kuwait dependence on the US, more control of oil prices, justification for military spending.

Emboldened by Bush’s call to action, Iraqis waited anxiously for America to support their drive for freedom. But the cavalry never arrived. Hussein quashed the revolts, ruthlessly using helicopter gunships to mow down thousands. (WI)

#41 Haiti 1990
1915-1935 five invasions. US forces remained ... until 1934, left to Garde d'Haiti by President Franklin D. Roosevelt (AI), later followed by the Duvalier family (1957-1986).

1990 elections brought in Jean Bertrand Aristide. Military deposed him. Then in 1994 Aristide was returned to power (Bill Clinton).

As part of the deal Aristide had to implement free market reforms in an attempt to improve the Haitian economy, with mixed results.
1995 René Préval.
2004 An anti-Aristide revolt began in northern Haiti. Exiled.
United Nations Stabilisation Mission (MINUSTAH) was brought in to maintain order - proved controversial.
Boniface Alexandre, interim authority.
2006 René Préval re-elected, 55% turnout.
2010 Martelly.
2017 Jovenel Moïse, assassinated 2021.
2022 Ariel Henry, to Kenya, refused return.
2024 Transitional Provision Council, until February 2026.
2024 Michel Patrick Boisvert, sworn in by council as acting prime minister.
2024 Then the council swore in Garry Conille as acting prime minister.
2024 Then Alix Didier Fils-Aimé as acting prime minister; sole leader since February 2026. Wikipedia

#42 Yugoslavia
During WWII the Bosnians and the Croats allied with the Nazis against the Serbs.

After the 1989 reunification, Germany wanted to dismantle Yugoslavia. Yugoslavia had recently renounced a market-oriented economy.

The Bush administration willing to help militarily despite an arms embargo. Croatia seceded, then Bosnia. In 1994, an Albanian base was set up.

...
Also see:
1893 Liliuokalani. Grover Cleveland (1837-1908), 22nd 1885–1889, 24th U.S. president (1893–1897)
1898 Puerto Rico. Spanish-American War, resulted U.S. sovereignty over Puerto Rico, Guam, Philippines, protectorate over Cuba. William McKinley (1843-1901) 25th, 1897–1901
1913 Huerta, Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) 28th, 1913-1921
1942* Algeria, Morocco, Operation Torch. Franklin D Roosevelt (1882-1945), 32nd, 1933-1945
1949 Syria. Harry S. Truman, (1884-1972)
2003* Operation Iraqi Freedom. George W. Bush (1946). Nine years. Islamic State, produced by the post-Hussein U.S. occupation.

Left off w/damage to offensive military capability. Remains a broken, fractured state, Iraqi/American people, heavy price for even that. (WI)

2026 Venezuela, Delcy Rodriguez, US captured then-president Nicolás Maduro. (CIA) director John Ratcliffe. Donald Trump (1946). Crude oil reserves.

https://globalwitness.org/en/campaign...

2026 Iran, Operation Epic Fury. February 28, 2026, US-Israel strikes.

Fourth president in the past century to raise the banner of “freedom” in the Middle East.

... will he leave the structure of the regime intact (Vichy comparison) ...

Or, more hopefully, will Trump—the first of the four to rely on air power to achieve victory—find a Goldilocks solution that empowers the Iranian people at modest cost to American lives and American treasure?

For both the long-suffering people of Iran and Americans fearful of open-ended, faraway entanglements, no question could be more consequential. (WI)

Stated objectives: degrade/missile capability, destroy/defense industrial base, eliminate/navy and air force, not close/nuclear, protect/Middle Eastern Allies, WCNC, North Carolina 3/23/26.

Other
Israel, Netanyahu is destroying neighbors - Syria sectarian/Russia (Turkish, overthrow Syria for border issues, religious, project power), Iraq, Gaza, arguably Syria, parts of Lebanon. Distraction Epstein/corruption.

Iran, nuclear, more motivation.

4/2/26, Another month, bombing. Strait of Hormuz question.
4/6, Egypt (Gulf States), Pakistan, Turkey.
4/13, Negotiations, far apart. For Iran, an economy set back, sanctions wavers, compensation (ignores economic boom that comes from reconstruction), via fund release, tolls/Strait of Hormuz (more pressing issues than getting back at the West/US).

The U.S. military said it will begin a blockade of all maritime traffic ‌entering and exiting Iranian ports and coastal areas on Monday 4/13/26, after the failure of weekend talks in Islamabad aimed at ​ending the Iran war.

4/18 Iran ... reasserts control/Strait



https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/c...

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/t...

...
No Kings protests on March 28, 2026.....were a series of demonstrations in the United States to protest the actions and policies of the second Trump administration ...

... including the 2026 Iran war; democratic backsliding; suppression of the Epstein files; and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations that led to shootings by immigration agents, most notably the killings of Renée Good, Keith Porter, and Alex Pretti.
...
Regime Change Articles
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/13/ma...

https://listverse.com/2017/05/17/top-...

https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/p...
(WI)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regime_.... Next ... 3/31/26

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/20... ... Hawaii, Puerto Rico ... New Mexico ...

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/l... ... latest 4/6/26

...
The Presidents Timeline.
Roosevelt - Algeria, Morocco. Vichy admiral. Ten years before independence, North Africa.
post WWII
HARRY S. TRUMAN | 1945-1953, 33. Korean War.
DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER | 1953-1961
JOHN F. KENNEDY | 1961-1963
LYNDON B. JOHNSON | 1963-1969
RICHARD M. NIXON | 1969-1974
GERALD R. FORD | 1974-1977
JIMMY CARTER | 1977-1981
RONALD REAGAN | 1981-1989
GEORGE H.W. BUSH | 1989-1993 - Iraq
BILL CLINTON | 1993-2001, 42
GEORGE W. BUSH | 2001-2009, 43 - Iraq
BARACK OBAMA | 2009-2017, 44
DONALD J. TRUMP | 2017-2021 / 2025
JOE BIDEN | 2021-2025
Donald J. Trump | 2025 - Iran

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/18/wo...

[Miroku Nemeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read many serious scholarly works on the topic of CIA malfeasance, but never one this easy to read--it really only takes a couple of hours and is a good integration of so much often left unsaid in US normative discourse that it is quite remarkable a read. Other than the chapter on Yugoslavia that tries to slander Bosnians by association with Croatians during WWII and completely omits the Bosnian genocide and any mention of genocidal violence by the Serbs (the killing of over 200,000 Bosnian Muslims, including massacres of around 9,000 in places like Sbernica), it is very good. That chapter was more than suspect, however, and shows many of us who are Muslim exactly how little our lives mean to the "Western" "Left." We see this, mark it, and remember it for what it is, especially as the US-backed Zionist settler-colonial state commits genocide against the innocent indigenous people of Gaza.

[Diana Barredo · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading this, it makes me question whether we should have a CIA. Their unethical, immoral, deadly methods don't justify their outcomes. Using the CIA to meddle in the outcomes of other countries' elections for our monetary benefit is unconscionable, yet our government continues to do it. This book was eye-opening.

[Terker Jerbs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eye opening look into how the US really plays the part of “the villain” in world politics. Nearly every conflict I know about and many I didn’t know about prior to reading the book were directly caused or influence by shady CIA covert plans, with or without direction from the executive. It’s a real shame to be part of this nation.

[Kerry · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this little book a bit of a revision of many events I remember from my early life. Some new ideas about these events, but mostly stuff I already knew. Very succinct summary of events but I think I may enjoy the source books more, particularly Blum.

[Hafiz Sheriff · Rating 5 out of 5]

If this book is true it is a disaster for the USA. How can we allow a certain government approved organization like the CIA to go on such a rampage. JFK and RFK were semi god's. How can we allow there lives to be snatched away so easily. So this is America?

[Katherine Reiter · Rating 5 out of 5]

clicking this probably means i'm on a government watchlist now but this is a book everyone needs to read

[Steve Crooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought the inclusion of the words "(Real Story)" might be a bit of a stretch.

[Medical Gunch · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. It’s fine.

[Hermann · Rating 1 out of 5]

Lots of left wing nut conspiracy theories with the CIA cast as the villain.

[Jimmy B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book but I wished the individual hits were more detailed and self contained. I understand the author left footnotes mentioning his sources, but each of the hits could have used more detail. Like the section on 9/11, what was the purpose?

[Nomax]

Oh yeah, this was a good book!

[jPhx · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super bites

[Ben Jaques-Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

You got to love a book that lists all of the horrible things that the CIA has done over the years!

[Brice Frierson · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was good. It told the truth about the cia.

[Chris]

God Bless America

[Stephen K. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great for Conspiracy theorists! Very fascinating read!

[Sonja · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read.