The Quiet Americans: Four CIA Spies at the Dawn of the Cold War—A Tragedy in Three Acts

by Scott Anderson

from a standpoint of bureaucratic smoke-screening, the formulation of OPC was a feat of sheer magnificence. As outlined in NSC 10/2, this new covert action unit would be “created within” the CIA, but would “operate independently of other [CIA] components.” Further, while the CIA director would be “responsible” for this addition to his agency, he wouldn’t have actual control over it; instead, he would share authority with representatives from the departments of State and Defense in a kind of consultative triumvirate. Just in case this wasn’t slippery enough, it was further decreed that in times of war—“or when the President directs”—the OPC would sidestep this overseeing triumvirate, and instead answer to the military Joint Chiefs of Staff and their war theater commanders. Somehow meant to keep track of all this was the man Kennan had chosen to head the OPC, Frank Wisner.