CIA Declassifies Skeletons File from the 1970s

Source:

Washington D.C., June 21, 2007 - The Central Intelligence Agency violated its charter for 25 years until revelations of illegal wiretapping, domestic surveillance, assassination plots, and human experimentation led to official investigations and reforms in the 1970s, according to declassified documents posted today on the Web by the National Security Archive at George Washington University.

CIA director Gen. Michael Hayden announced today that the Agency is declassifying the full 693-page file amassed on CIA's illegal activities by order of then-CIA director James Schlesinger in 1973--the so-called "family jewels." Only a few dozen heavily-censored pages of this file have previously been declassified, although multiple Freedom of Information Act requests have been filed over the years for the documents. Gen. Hayden called today's release "a glimpse of a very different time and a very different Agency."

I find that last sentence in the quote above to be a bit peculiar. Is he suggesting that the CIA of today is better or worse? What are your opinions?

I personally doubt there is much of a difference at all -- secret prisons and torture aren't exactly a step up from wiretapping journalists and behavioral modification.

If you read through the whole story above (here's your link again, if you missed it), there are some fairly interesting links, but I did not find any information that really surprised me or that was beyond the low behavior I expect from an agency like the CIA. Hopefully there will be some more interesting information in the numerous other declassified pages, but I won't hold my breath, I suppose.

/tn.