from traditional spying. Lansdale’s apostasy grated all the more because of the high-level backing that he enjoyed. The very establishment of Mongoose outside the CIA’s control was seen as a challenge to the entire intelligence establishment, whose competence had been called into question by the Bay of Pigs. If Lansdale succeeded where the CIA had failed, the CIA’s very future could be in jeopardy. Mongoose’s failure, therefore, occasioned some unseemly celebration at Langley.
