Interview: James Angleton

INTERVIEW SUBJECT, 1987:

JAMES ANGLETON, FORMER CHIEF OF COUNTER-INTELLIGENCE,
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY (C.I.A.)
I asked the dying man how it all went so wrong. 
With no emotion in his voice, but with his hand 
trembling, [CIA spymaster James] Angleton replied:
“Fundamentally, the founding fathers of U.S. intelligence 
were liars…Outside of their duplicity, the only thing they 
had in common was a desire for absolute power. I did things 
that, in looking back on my life, I regret. You know,
the CIA got tens of thousands of brave people killed… 
We played with lives as if we owned them… You were in a 
room full of people that you had to believe would 
deservedly end up in hell.” Angleton slowly sipped his 
tea and then said, “I will see them there soon enough.”

 – Joseph Trento, The Secret History of the CIA

 

James Angleton

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