CONFLICTED The CIA: What is It For?
May 1, 2026
Tim Weiner, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist who has spent decades reporting on the CIA, discusses the agency as an instrument of presidential power. He covers the post‑Cold War identity collapse, the shift to global counterterrorism and drone warfare, the rise of torture and black sites, covert operations like Timber Sycamore, and why espionage differs from covert action.
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CIA Acts As An Instrument Of The President
- The CIA is primarily an instrument of presidential power, executing what the president orders rather than acting independently.
- Tim Weiner traces this shift from a Cold War mission to “know the world” into a mission to actively change it under presidential direction.
CIA Was Missionless After The Cold War
- After the Cold War the CIA was left 'half broken' with recruitment and mission clarity collapsing.
- George Tenet called it a 'burning platform' as the agency struggled to redefine purpose before counterterrorism refocused it.
Peru Drug Plane Shootdown Killed An American Family
- Clinton-era program paid Peru's intelligence chief Montesinos to identify and permit shootdowns of suspected drug planes.
- The CIA violated its own presidentially approved rules and ultimately shot down a missionary plane killing an American family.
