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Back to To the Point

To the Point

The history of the CIA's covert wars

The CIA is perceived by most Americans as an organization of spies, tracking down foreign threats to the nation. That's still true, but decades ago, the CIA also became a full-fledged military institution.

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By Warren Olney • Feb 21, 2017 • 1 min read

The CIA is perceived by most Americans as an organization of spies, tracking down foreign threats to the nation. That's still true, but decades ago, the CIA also became a full-fledged military institution. When the wars in Vietnam and Cambodia were getting all the attention, the US was dropping more bombs on another country than it dropped in Europe and Asia during all of World War II. That country was Laos, and the agency directing the attacks was the CIA. That's according to Josh Kurlantzick, author of A Great Place to Have a War: America in Laos and the Birth of a Military CIA. He's also a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.

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    Warren Olney

    former KCRW broadcaster

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    Jenny Hamel

    KCRW

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    Sáša Woodruff

    Producer, 'To the Point'

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    Evan George

    Director of Content, News

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    Joshua Kurlantzick

    Council on Foreign Relations

    NewsNationalPolitics
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