The Pentagon and the CIA agree on US supremacy — but clash on how best to achieve it. Their rivalry has ebbed and flowed, but today’s emphasis on technology is giving the CIA the edge. Under the guise of ‘psychological warfare’, the CIA built up extensive paramilitary experience, including in Cuba, Iran, Congo (today’s DRC), Laos, Chile and Afghanistan. The CIA and the armed forces view intelligence differently: to the CIA, it’s a diplomatic and strategic tool, while for the military it plays an operational support role. The military, by contrast, remains a vector for middle-class advancement: unlike the CIA, which is still overwhelmingly white, more than 30% of active-duty personnel are from (…)