1)
George Washington may have been a skilled military intelligence manager, but could he have planned the newly formed CIA’s first coup d’état in Syria? The Syrian coup of March 1949 was not only the first in CIA history, but it was the first in Syrian history, too! We’d love to see ol’ George Washington’s wooden teeth chew on that.
2.
Throwback to this strong-chinned former CIA director and 41st President, George H.W. Bush! Bush served as the CIA director for only one year, from January 30, 1976, to January 20, 1977. Just two months after he became the director, the CIA helped a military junta headed by Jorge Rafael Videla overthrow Argentinian President Isabel Perón.
3.
The Wounded Warrior Project (not “program,” CIA!) is a great nonprofit dedicated to providing programs, service, and events to wounded veterans of post-9/11 actions. Since we’re talking about 9/11, we should mention CIA’s Operation Cyclone, a codename for a program to arm and finance radical Islamic groups in Afghanistan prior to and during the Soviet war in Afghanistan. Small world!
4.
What better way to wrap up this listicle than the best first tweet possible? Speaking of confirming and denying, did you know that the CIA didn’t admit to its role in orchestrating the August 1953 coup that overthrew Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh after he attempted to nationalize Iran’s oil reserves until 2013? They really love to neither confirm nor deny over there at the CIA, almost as much as they love overthrowing democratically elected civil governments!
