Top 10 - CIA's Bizarre Operations that are beyond our expectations

CIA-Central Intelligence Agency many of us had heard about it in News Especially in Hollywood Movies like Mission Impossible & Bourne franchise  & knew few things about it, many of us not, as it is a secret service agency just like India has RAW America has CIA.

Every secret agency can go through any limit to save their country to gather intelligence about the potential threats to their country, the same goes for the CIA as well, but you will surprise or we can say shocked to see that at what limit the CIA has gone to serve their nation.

Small History:

Founded on 18th September 1947, CIA is the America's premier foreign intelligence agency and was created after the attack on pearl harbor by Japan.

Then President Harry S Truman insisted America should have its own intelligence agency to coordinate with other countries and to identify the possible threats to their nation, Soon President Truman signed the National Security Act & CIA is formed.

Below are a few bizarre operations that the CIA has carried out throughout history to save America or To gather intelligence for America-

10) Operation Northwoods

     In the year 1962, Cuba under the regime of Fidel Castro emerged as a communist nation, just close to 103 miles from Florida, thus USA cannot tolerate the communist ally so close to their nation.

     So USA needs an excuse to enter into a war with tiny nation CUBA, so they started Operation Northwoods it is also known as false flag operations, the plan was to attack your own country and accused CUBA of doing it, to execute this they have exploded the military ship & hijacked their own planes from the base.

9) Operation Paperclip

     Even Adolf Hitler thought that to win future wars we need advancement in scientific & military technologies as WWII ended many of the Nazi's genius brains fled Germany and many of them get hide somewhere.

               This gives birth to the operation paperclip, the program was America's mission to source the best nazi geniuses and offer them asylum in America after ignoring their crimes in exchange for working for the US, approximately 700 german scientists were transported out of nazi Germany after WWII.

This includes one famous scientist named "Verner Von Braun" who helped Nazi Germany to build V2 rockets, he later created technology that helped America to win the space race and finally put men on the moon.

8) Cold Eyed Economic Warfare(Faulty Equipment)

     Siberia has one of the world's largest gas fields, but it's thousands of miles away from its potential customer in western Europe. Russia emerged as the  

helping hand and proposed the plan of an endless supply of gas coming down the new Siberian pipeline & connecting to the german gas network and then on to the rest of Europe.

     As America wants to cripple these programs of Russia and to want to collapse Russia's economy, they had taken the harsh step.

                          Russia's pipeline was robust large but old fashioned, so they need an advanced pipeline system, KGB agent started approaching the western companies for software to update the soviet gas pipe network, this thing came to the attention of the CIA, so by using a team of hackers they cleverly wrote industrial bogus machine code & sold it to the KGB spy.

      As they installed this malware occupied code on their network, the malicious program started working as expected the code sabotage a few pipes & valves, creating enormous pressure in the pipeline.

      In 1982, finally, the explosion took place, the blast was so horrific it was clearly visible from the space-based spy satellites.

7) Operation Mongoose

     In response to a request by US attorney general Robert Kennedy, the CIA produces a list of few dirty tricks to dispose of Castro's regime in Cuba.

     To start this operation the USA had first cut the oil supply & export of sugar to Cuba, but ultimately Soviets emerges and helps Cuba with oil & sugar, when this trick doesn't work the CIA' decided they would destabilize Cuba's government by assassinating its leader, Fidel Castro.

     In a series of secret meetings of America's top generals, they have come up with ridiculous ideas & it is unclear how many of these they had ever tried, few of the tricks are poisoning his cigar, pants, scuba suit, or even seashells  #Hilarious 

6) Acoustic Kitty

       In the 1960s, the CIA attempted a short-lived experiment nicknamed  "Acoustic Kitty", CIA operatives noticed that the cat would wander around the premises without drawing attention.

    CIA implanted a three-quarter inch transmitter into the "loses", the fleshy part at the back of a cat's neck & microphone was put in the cat's ear canal, with an almost invisible wire connecting two devices so they would be able to eavesdrop on communist.

    But cats though able to roam into the desired location easily didn't exactly make the best spies, CIA found that the cat would walk off the job when got hungry. unfortunately, on the first and only mission, the cat was run over, thus the agency concluded that training the cats would not be practical.

5) Operation Gold

     In the 1950s during the cold war, monitoring the soviet union and its influences worldwide was the top priority of the CIA.

                     Berlin was the vast communications network from France to deep within Russia, In a joint operation with MI-6, they came up with a plan to assessed the tapping into underground communication line in the Soviet sector of berlin. So In January 1954 the director of CIA, Allen Dulles approved the covert tunneling and tapping operation.

                 So CIA built the 450m tunnel named as berlin tunnel, to hack the phones of the soviet union HQ in berlin. A KGB mole into the MI6 has tipped off the soviet during the operations planning, so to protect their source KGB allowed the operation to continue until April 1956, during this period soviet fed the US fake info for a year.

4) Operation Sukarno

     Seeking to discredit the president of Indonesia, during the cold war, CIA agents used a look like of the president and created few erotic clips which seemingly look like a president is a person who is doing such shameful things & try to blackmail him.

     But the CIA failed to realize the president itself already was a famed womanizer and this movie had no impact at all on his popularity.

3) Operation Torture

     CIA's interrogation technique on suspected terrorists includes Waterboarding & Sleep Deprivation. High bass music is played to disorientate detainees, the music includes the "sesame street theme" tune.

     CIA even reportedly lied to congress, the justice department, the white house about what exactly they are doing in interrogating prisoners & that interrogations are far more brutal & more widespread than has been publicly known.

2) Operation Mkultra 

     It is the weirdest, risky & inhuman thing the CIA has ever done, it includes Mind Control experiments involving the secret administering of LSD to normal people of the nation to create a so-called Manchurian agent. The paper leaked clearly states that the lethal dose of the sarin has been given to volunteers who are involved in this experiment. 

This experiment has even led to the apparent suicide of the CIA employee 9 days after he has been being drugged.

1) Operation Nanda Devi

       Yes, you heard it right, Nanda Devi- a reference to India, In 1965, the CIA in a joint operation with RAW implanted the Nuclear powered device on the Indian mountain Nanda Devi to keep an eye on China's nuclear test.

       Due to avalanche it ultimately swept away & remains undiscovered to date, India government has closed the area for decades with exceptions such as Army Involvement. 

                India has even set up a commission for this, In 1967 operation had finally scored a success, but still, one nuclear device remains undiscovered which is dangerous for everyone.

End thoughts-

We are no one to judge someone by what they are doing or has done in the past, As per the CIA whatever they have done is patriotism for them, but for other people, it may be brutality. Few of the operations are treated as well-executed and well-behaved operations while some indicated the act from the Hell, I am leaving this to you, how you are thinking about this, Do let me know in the comments section which operation you find interesting & which one you think is the act of brutality.

Glossary:- 

1. Asylum - protection given to someone who has left their home country as a political refugee
2. V2 Rockets- It was the world's first long-range guided rocket.
3. Robust- Strong 
4. Malicious code- the code which is used to cause an undesired effect
5. KGB - Secret service agency of Soviet Russia.
6. Sabotage - Delibartely destroying or damaging something
7. MI6- Secret Service agency of England.
8. Covert - Confidential
9. Taping - recording of sound/audio/video/pictures
10. Mole - A spy who achieves a trustworthy position in the security defense of another nation.
11. Waterboarding - An interrogation technique similar to drowning
12. Sleep deprivation - A condition suffering from lack of sleep
13. Sesame Street theme tune(CIA) - A remix disturbed version of the original song which is used on prisoners. 
14. LSD/SARIN -A type of drug used in the Mind experiments techniques.
15. Manchurian Agent - A puppet agent used by the enemy.
16. Avalanche - A mass of snow, ice & rocks falling from the mountain

Few Movies and Web series suggestions based on Espionage theme:-

Movies:-  

1. The Report(2019) - Scott Burns
2. Salt(2010) - Phillip Noyce
3. Bridge of Spies(2015) - Steven Spielberg
4. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy(2011) - Tomas Alfredson
5. Argo(2012) - Ben Affleck

Web series:- 

1. Stranger Things
2. The Looming tower
3. Jack Ryan
4. The Spy
5. Covert Affairs

Do comment on the post if you liked it & share it with your friends as well.

Stay Safe& Stay Home :)

Procrastination - How to deal with it

What is Procrastination:-

It is nothing but delaying a particular task for instant pleasure or there can be other reasons also which leads to Procrastination.

We often procrastinate on silly things that we will do at that time or later on, there is nothing bad in procrastination, as long as we bounce back from the spiral dilemma of procrastination, a bit of it is good, addiction is not.

Below are a few things you can try to get rid of so-called Procrastination.

Common Reasons Why We Procrastinate:-

     1)   Fear of Failure:

We all have different definitions of value, simply because we all have different goals, values & belief systems,  A failure to one person might simply be a great learning experience for someone else.

Many of us are afraid of failing, at least some of the time. But fear of failure is when we allow that fear to stop us from doing the things that can move us forward to achieve our goals.

     2)  Rewards that are far in the future:

Patience is what something suits here well, we often think when we start doing a task that it may take too much time to get build up  in the future or We may get the thought like will it be worth in the future?

Often this thinking & occurrence of such thoughts lead to Procrastination, We may have great enthusiasm at the start but later in the time we give up and welcomes Procrastination in Life.

              

     3)  Lack of motivation:

Motivation is something which we need in every aspect of our life, often we get motivated for the particular time or moment in our life, by watching a video, reading a quote by famous people or by reading a meme on social media, we may even post something like that on our social media accounts as well.

But what after that, we get engaged in the same old school bus of our life, Staying motivated is like taking a bath, you need to stay motivated daily, otherwise lacking in this will lead to Procrastination.

     4)  Anxiety:

Anxiety is the body’s physical response to fear, this might include conditions like a racing heart, rapid breathing, sweaty palms, etc.

Everyone feels anxious at times, and a certain level of anxiety is both normal and even helpful in some situations. Anxiety is our body’s way of keeping us safe. For example, imagine you’re walking home, and you’re pulling your feet because you’re tired. Unexpectedly you think you see a snake. Suddenly, you forget how tired you are and have a burst of energy that helps you to getaway. However, feeling too much anxiety about something usually gets in the way and can be unhealthy & ultimately it will lead to Procrastination.                                    

     5)  Disconnect from our future self:

Procrastination today will bear your consequences in the future, if you delay something now it will have a harmful effect on the future, it may physical, economical, psychological as well.

So make sure what you are doing today, will make your future self,  it is possible to build a connection with your future self through visualization and mindfulness meditation. And that connection you build is effective in reducing procrastination.   

How to Stop Procrastination-

Solution:-

      A.   Overcome your Fear:  

     Fear is one factor that contributes to procrastination. This can involve a fear of failure, a fear of making mistakes, or even a fear of success. Face it, Experience it & Master the art to rise above it,  

By addressing the fear that is keeping you from getting started, you can begin to overcome your procrastination habit.

      B.   Prioritize things, but not delay:  

      Marked your task as per your priority, and executes it one by one, this will surely boost your confidence to do your task consistently, also it will avoid you to procrastinate.

   

      C.  Recognize the Arrival of Procrastination: 

     As you start to tackle items on your list, pay attention to when thoughts of procrastination starts to crawl into your mind. If you find yourself thinking "I don't feel like doing this now" or "I'll have time to work on this later," then you need to recognize that you are about to procrastinate.

    

      D.  Eliminate Diversion:  

     It’s hard to get any real work done when you keep turning your attention to what's on television or you keep checking your Social Media account’s, Assign yourself a period of time during which you turn off all distractions—such as music, television, and social networking sites—and use that time to focus all of your attention on the task at hand.

  

      E.  Honor Yourself: 

     Once you have completed a task (or even a small portion of a larger task), it is important to reward yourself for your attempts, Give yourself the opportunity to indulge in something that you find fun and enjoyable, whether it's attending a sporting event, playing a video game, watching your favorite TV show, or looking at pictures on a social media site.

Conclusion:

Breaking the procrastination habit isn't easy. After all, if it was simple there wouldn't be an estimated 70 to 95 percent of students engaging in procrastination on a regular basis. The urge to put things off can be strong, especially when there are so many things around us to provide fun and entertaining distractions.

While procrastination might not be something you can avoid entirely, becoming aware of the reasons why you procrastinate and how to overcome those tendencies can help. By implementing these strategies, you might find that it is easier to put your nose to the grindstone and get started on those important tasks.