Are countries cracking down on CIA using NGOs as cover?

So, it looks like Pakistan is following the same pathway as India did this past week in closing down a bunch of NGOs, and closing down the country office of Save the Children, with 1200 employees there, due to concerns about it violating national sovereignty and being possibly involved with the CIA.

www.theguardian.com...-53707818

"“There were some intelligence reports suggesting some of the international NGOs funded by US, Israel and India were involved in working on an anti-Pakistan agenda,” interior minister Chaudhry Nisar told a press conference on Friday, at which he also launched a tirade against overseas rights activists campaigning against the growing use of the death penalty by the country.

“Let me clarify: offices of any international NGO found doing anti-Pakistan activities would be shut down,” he said.

Pakistan orders Save the Children foreign workers to leave
Save the Children first attracted official wrath after becoming embroiled – the organisation has always claimed unwittingly – in the CIA’s efforts in 2011 to pinpoint the location of former al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden to a compound in the town of Abbottabad.

In 2012 Islamabad gave foreign staff working for Save the Children just a week to leave the country after the country’s top spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence directorate (ISI), linked it to a bogus hepatitis B vaccination programme conducted in the town by a doctor called Shakil Afridi.

Under the cover of injecting householders with hepatitis B vaccine, Afridi had tried to collect DNA samples from Bin Laden family members living in the walled compound during the months before US special forces raided the building.

To the fury of US politicians, Afridi was arrested shortly after the killing of Bin Laden and sentenced to 33 years in jail by a tribal court for charges unrelated to the CIA or Bin Laden.

A leaked version of the official inquiry into the Bin Laden affair revealed Afridi told investigators a senior Save the Children official introduced him to female CIA officers, with whom he held secretive meetings in warehouses."

www.cnn.com...

This is also a good lesson in how censored the US media is. I found this story on CNN, but the CNN version had ZERO information regarding the some of the intelligence issues, i.e. that the Pakistan was getting hip to the CIA ops.

This is very difficult for me, as I actually work in international development as my profession, and hold grad degrees in it. I literally was interviewing for an education position with Save the Children 2-3 weeks ago, based in D.C. But I also do know that at varying times some of the intelligence agencies have covertly used some NGOs, foundations, and government development agencies for cover. Obviously they would be a small fraction compared to real development workers.

Even with the Peace Corps I believe, the CIA claimed to Congress in the 70's that they were NO LONGER infiltrating agents into it as a good cover abroad. The Peace Corps was a program I actually got into (Nicaragua in my case), was a life dream, and regretfully decided to not go due to a relationship here in the states. Biggest regret of my life to this day.

USAID, the US Agency for International Development, has also been accused of being a cover for covert ops in the past.

Long story short, countries are waking up to these games, and the infiltration of intelligence agencies into anything that can provide a good cover. I was reading in one of the articles that the Soviet Union didn't let the Red Cross in for a while due to similar accusations.

The problem is, that there are also very legitimate and very needed development projects, such as building schools, infrastructure, health clinics, and so on. There are still approximately 1 billion people living in extreme poverty worldwide. The vast majority of people who work on these issues are very sincere and not involved with military or covert ops. I know scores of them personally.

So when intelligence agencies or covert ops infiltrate real initiatives to get into countries they might not otherwise, and then do something contrary to the peaceful aims of programs and good graces of the governments, it has the potential to ruin the capability for good work in those countries.

It's just like Save the Children said in response to the closing of its Pakistan office, tens of thousands of children, women, and low income men will not receive services as a result.

This has all been happening a long time, however, if we are to believe the claims about ulterior motives within some arms of international development:

www.amazon.com...

a reply to: Quetzalcoatl14

The Red Cross has been forced to defend its operation in Haiti, after it emerged claiming that the charity had built only six houses in the country since the devastating 2010 earthquake, despite raising almost half a billion dollars in donations.

Over 220,000 people died in the 7.0 magnitude earthquake on 12 January 2010. The Red Cross was among the organisations to take part in the relief effort.

Now, a damning report by the investigative journalism website ProPublica and US radio network NPR has accused the organisation of leaving families homeless and struggle to survive, by wasting money through poor management.

www.independent.co.uk...

Most of the color revolutions used NGO's . Some failed and were found out but some were successful . The big question is how to not throw out the baby with the bath water .

No surprise here about the CIA using NGOs as front for infiltrating other nations, you know it, I know it, and so do foreign leaders. I recall a flare-up in Washington back in the 70's over Latin American nations booting out NGOs and charity organizations on the grounds they were being used by the CIA as cover for organizing revolutions against regimes not friendly to the US (or its corporate needs). The CIA will just regroup and slither in under another cover and resume their dirty tricks, business as usual.

a reply to: Blackmarketeer

Today we call then the CIA but going back a bit further they were called the Jesuits . Same MO

originally posted by: Blackmarketeer
No surprise here about the CIA using NGOs as front for infiltrating other nations, you know it, I know it, and so do foreign leaders. I recall a flare-up in Washington back in the 70's over Latin American nations booting out NGOs and charity organizations on the grounds they were being used by the CIA as cover for organizing revolutions against regimes not friendly to the US (or its corporate needs). The CIA will just regroup and slither in under another cover and resume their dirty tricks, business as usual.

The question is, at what point has United States made an enemy out of everyone.

When will such policy end.

NGOs often highlight inadequacies and corruption in their host nation, thus embarrassing the authorities. Russia banning a whole bunch of anti-corruption, LGBT, environmental and political reform NGOs for example, often with obviously trumped up accusations of “anti-Russian” activity!

Pakistan banning the charity Save the Children is ridiculous. The charity has worked to improve the lot of thousands of Pakistani children in a (frankly) mediaeval society. Could it be that their activities continue to highlight the corruption and lack of policy from the Pakistani authorities, who can afford atomic bombs and lavish political lifestyles, but cannot afford basic health care for kids? I think so.

People running around complaining that NGOs are infiltrated by the CIA is an affront to the intelligence and the work some of these NGOs do, often at great sacrifice. Is there any evidence (any at all) that the CIA runs and covertly uses NGOs for their own nefarious ends? No, there is not.

Save the Children statement

a reply to: Quetzalcoatl14

"Are countries cracking down on CIA using NGOs as cover?"

An interesting question... Here is another -

Are countries closing down NGO's and using CIA front as an excuse to shut them down?

originally posted by: the2ofusr1
a reply to: Quetzalcoatl14

The Red Cross has been forced to defend its operation in Haiti, after it emerged claiming that the charity had built only six houses in the country since the devastating 2010 earthquake, despite raising almost half a billion dollars in donations.

Over 220,000 people died in the 7.0 magnitude earthquake on 12 January 2010. The Red Cross was among the organisations to take part in the relief effort.

Now, a damning report by the investigative journalism website ProPublica and US radio network NPR has accused the organisation of leaving families homeless and struggle to survive, by wasting money through poor management.

www.independent.co.uk...

Most of the color revolutions used NGO's . Some failed and were found out but some were successful . The big question is how to not throw out the baby with the bath water .

Or, they used NGOs as one of their covers. Remember that intelligence agencies use everything from embassies to private-sector companies as cover too. So NGOs are probably focused on only when those NGOs have a particular program that provides the right access to some region or people.

But your last point is the most important. A lot of these programs, large and small, are very needed and supported by research. Education, maternal and child health and nutrition, food security, extreme poverty, etc.

originally posted by: Xcathdra
a reply to: Quetzalcoatl14

"Are countries cracking down on CIA using NGOs as cover?"

An interesting question... Here is another -

Are countries closing down NGO's and using CIA front as an excuse to shut them down?

That could be possible too. However, it is highly doubtful that Pakistan would shut down an entire massive NGO branch, employing 1200 locals, without some real cause.

In this case, it could be due to the criticism of the judicial system, as the Pakistani officials were saying. Save the Children without a doubt has some human rights orientated work.

But if you note, the Guardian cited some possibly very real intelligence connections between the NGO and CIA in Pakistan.

And, we know that the CIA has been accused of utilizing various development agencies and NGOs in the past as a cover. What this probably means is they have very qualified, multi-lingual, intelligent people who they either recruited before they joined a major NGO or possibly after. I don't think that the whole NGO is in on it by any means. I would have realized that if it was true having myself worked with some such NGOs in other countries and here.

originally posted by: paraphi
NGOs often highlight inadequacies and corruption in their host nation, thus embarrassing the authorities. Russia banning a whole bunch of anti-corruption, LGBT, environmental and political reform NGOs for example, often with obviously trumped up accusations of “anti-Russian” activity!

Pakistan banning the charity Save the Children is ridiculous. The charity has worked to improve the lot of thousands of Pakistani children in a (frankly) mediaeval society. Could it be that their activities continue to highlight the corruption and lack of policy from the Pakistani authorities, who can afford atomic bombs and lavish political lifestyles, but cannot afford basic health care for kids? I think so.

People running around complaining that NGOs are infiltrated by the CIA is an affront to the intelligence and the work some of these NGOs do, often at great sacrifice. Is there any evidence (any at all) that the CIA runs and covertly uses NGOs for their own nefarious ends? No, there is not.

Save the Children statement

Dude, did you even read my full post? With all due respect, I actually work with many of these NGOs, and I have friends and colleagues deeply embedded in them. As we write I have a friend in the nutrition unit of Save the Children....

I am the last person to generalize all development work or NGOs, as that is my career... I am 100% behind REAL development work, not such work done with ulterior motives.

However, if you read my full post the point is that the CIA may have infiltrated some development groups/orgs/agencies in the past, including the Peace Corps.

What you are missing here it's not that these NGOs are "being run by the CIA for nefarious purposes," but instead that at times the CIA may have possibly infiltrated very capable agents into such orgs in order to gain access to a difficult to access location.

The CIA HAS been claimed to have been involved in some USAID and I believe Peace Corps activities in the past.

This past week India also closed down or retracted the licenses of a bunch of international NGOs and foundations, notably the Ford Foundation.

I asked my Indian friend who is a lawyer there and whose uncle is high up in the Indian intelligence community. My friend said that while some of the issues were political, many of the NGOs may have been involved in projects that weren't in line with their ostensible purposes, i.e. possibly working for foreign agendas. This is a friend who I studied with in grad school here in the states, and who is quite objective and extremely well educated.

originally posted by: Blackmarketeer
No surprise here about the CIA using NGOs as front for infiltrating other nations, you know it, I know it, and so do foreign leaders. I recall a flare-up in Washington back in the 70's over Latin American nations booting out NGOs and charity organizations on the grounds they were being used by the CIA as cover for organizing revolutions against regimes not friendly to the US (or its corporate needs). The CIA will just regroup and slither in under another cover and resume their dirty tricks, business as usual.

I think it is important to note here that it's not particular to NGOs. ANY type of organization, from private sector to NGO to foundation, that gains access to critical regions, leaders, people, communities, and resources, will be a prime target for infiltration.

So we are discussing NGOs right now due to the closings in India and Pakistan, but not because they are particularly more problematic in this realm.

The reason that such NGOs are a prime target though is because many of these NGOs have a lot of access, trust, local staff, field experience, permission from the government, etc, due to the humanitarian or other important work their projects focus on. It literally is the perfect cover. "Let's recruit an Aids doctor to join the CIA and then get access to hard to reach regions in Africa." Etc.

a reply to: Quetzalcoatl14


This is one of those areas where International law should prohibit the use of NGO's as intelligence services. Some of these groups do real work and shouldn't be punished because some alphabet agency wants to misuse it.

At the same time it should also prohibit governments from intentionally falsely accusing an NGO of being used by an intelligence agency.

originally posted by: Xcathdra
a reply to: Quetzalcoatl14


This is one of those areas where International law should prohibit the use of NGO's as intelligence services. Some of these groups do real work and shouldn't be punished because some alphabet agency wants to misuse it.

At the same time it should also prohibit governments from intentionally falsely accusing an NGO of being used by an intelligence agency.

Agreed. There should be much stricter rules against such abuse. The hard part though is many people that get recruited into intelligence at an international level are similar to the people who have the qualifications possibly for non-intelligence related international work: multi-lingual, experience working or living in various countries, well educated on international affairs, intelligent, etc. No matter how much an NGO tried to stop this (as I'm sure some have), intelligence agencies of all kinds and from all kinds of countries could insert people simply through application processes.

Also, perhaps a few NGOs DO need to lose their license in some countries due to such things so that their leadership gets the memo that if they allow their mandate to be abused for intelligence, they will be booted out. And they should be.

The Peace Corps, which did in the past have some controversy around the CIA during the Cold War, now has a requirement for applicants that they must sign an affidavit that they have never worked for the CIA or another intelligence agency. I had to sign one while going through the process. This is specifically to guard against such infiltration.

a reply to: Quetzalcoatl14

OP you might like to read this latest piece . "Wanted: NGO Whistleblowers" thesaker.is...

"Embedded Danger

NGOs operate as the vanguard for regime change operations, and they’ve usually embed themselves within the state’s social fabric long before the directive is given to launch their coup attempt. Often times, they may not explicitly operate as an open force of anti-government activity, instead choosing misleading names that associate their brand more with social work than political agitation. This is also seen through their promoted activities, which seek to exude a ‘neutral’ vibe such as feeding the jobless and sheltering the homeless. Via these disarming mechanisms, they’re able to expand their web of support and dupe advocates into believing in the non-political nature of their activities. In and of itself, there’s nothing necessarily ‘illegal’ about this process, no matter how unethical it may be for a political organization to hide behind the veneer of social activity, but the problem becomes paramount when such a front organization is under foreign influence."

"Foreign-funded political NGOs hiding behind a social mask clearly have ulterior motives, and it’s their secretive intentions and connections with various intelligence agencies that worry state leaders. They know that a widely established and highly ‘reputable’ social NGO could already impact the public discourse, and if such an organization suddenly decides to politicize itself, it’s likely that most of their recruits and broad network of supporters will follow in tune, thereby creating a sizeable political movement supposedly out of ‘nowhere’. In reality, that was the intent all along – to politicize a disparate network of seemingly unconnected social NGOs into a unified political force of regime change – but if the public and its decision makers aren’t aware of this ahead of time, the resultant black hole of social chaos can be strong enough to pull in more supporters while simultaneously collapsing the central gravity of state power."

originally posted by: Quetzalcoatl14
Dude, did you even read my full post?

Yes I did. Did you read mine?

I repeat that governments banning NGOs is more a symptom of their activities highlighting corruption and policy inadequacies rather than e.g. infiltration by the CIA. The latter just helps them justify their actions.

well done,
I agree whole heartedly. I for one am glad these
countries are starting to see the breach.
We (the U.S.) would not tolerate it.
If we knew the international Red Cross, operating now
in cities like New Orleans and Los Angeles, (because we do
NOT take care of our own unless it's politically or financially
relevant) showed they have been covertly working on agendas
for their own shadow groups, it could lead to sanctions,
invasions and drone strikes.

Just dropping this latest vid on the subject to help connect and confirm the problem .

a reply to: the2ofusr1

How is a video from youtube that uses footage dating back to 2011 (conservatively speaking) the latest?

originally posted by: paraphi

originally posted by: Quetzalcoatl14
Dude, did you even read my full post?

Yes I did. Did you read mine?

I repeat that governments banning NGOs is more a symptom of their activities highlighting corruption and policy inadequacies rather than e.g. infiltration by the CIA. The latter just helps them justify their actions.

This might depend on the situation, country, and NGO. Yes, some countries resist the efforts of the entire development field (including NGOs, governments, UN, etc) to discuss human rights, corruption, etc. But as someone who actually works in this field, I don't think your explanatory argument fully accounts for all of what is going on. It very well may in the case of Save the Children. In fact, I have a great deal of respect for Save and know people that work there.

originally posted by: the2ofusr1
a reply to: Quetzalcoatl14

OP you might like to read this latest piece . "Wanted: NGO Whistleblowers" thesaker.is...

"Embedded Danger

NGOs operate as the vanguard for regime change operations, and they’ve usually embed themselves within the state’s social fabric long before the directive is given to launch their coup attempt. Often times, they may not explicitly operate as an open force of anti-government activity, instead choosing misleading names that associate their brand more with social work than political agitation. This is also seen through their promoted activities, which seek to exude a ‘neutral’ vibe such as feeding the jobless and sheltering the homeless. Via these disarming mechanisms, they’re able to expand their web of support and dupe advocates into believing in the non-political nature of their activities. In and of itself, there’s nothing necessarily ‘illegal’ about this process, no matter how unethical it may be for a political organization to hide behind the veneer of social activity, but the problem becomes paramount when such a front organization is under foreign influence."

"Foreign-funded political NGOs hiding behind a social mask clearly have ulterior motives, and it’s their secretive intentions and connections with various intelligence agencies that worry state leaders. They know that a widely established and highly ‘reputable’ social NGO could already impact the public discourse, and if such an organization suddenly decides to politicize itself, it’s likely that most of their recruits and broad network of supporters will follow in tune, thereby creating a sizeable political movement supposedly out of ‘nowhere’. In reality, that was the intent all along – to politicize a disparate network of seemingly unconnected social NGOs into a unified political force of regime change – but if the public and its decision makers aren’t aware of this ahead of time, the resultant black hole of social chaos can be strong enough to pull in more supporters while simultaneously collapsing the central gravity of state power."

An interesting post. I think that probably this has happened before in some countries. This goes back to the same point my op is about, that at CERTAIN times intelligence agencies have used NGOs as covers, whether with the permission of said NGOs or not.

However, we have to be careful to not overly generalize NGOs or NGO motives. MOST are probably doing what they say they are doing, and most NGO workers I know are very committed, serious social impact professionals. I'm one of them.

It is kinda like all of the conspiracies about the UN. Those conspiracies are far more slanderous than the ones about NGOs. But I worked around UN headquarters from January 2014 to March 2015. And studied with UN workers in grad school for almost two years before that.

At no time did I ever "feel" or see anything to confirm those conspiracies, and I have pretty good intuition. For example, my boss and good friend John, who was a UN representative, talked to me about the Agenda 21 conspiracy folks, because he worked at UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs which is involved in Agenda 21, and he would laugh because there was nothing evil that he saw either there. I have been to hundreds of meetings at the UN about global sustainable development policy (which is the umbrella under which Agenda 21 resides), and at no time had any confirmation about any of the conspiracies. They could still exist. But..

So it's probably the same with all of these (NGOs, UN, etc). Most of the time they ARE doing what they really say they are doing.