And that cocaine-smuggling at Mena was a CIA operation with blessing of a Republican President and the assistance of a Democratic Governor.
In his relations with the Invisble Government, the President's problems are compounded. He cannot deal with it openly and publicly. He cannot bring to bear against it the normal political tools at his disposal. He cannot go over the heads of the leaders of the intelligence community and appeal to the people.
A President operates under a constant awareness of the capacity of disgruntled members of the Invisible Government to undercut his purposes by leaking information to Congress and the press. During the deliberations leading to the Bay of Pigs, Kennedy obviously realized the political dangers of canceling a plan to overthrow Castro which had been brought to an advanced stage by a Republican administration. Similarly, during the Cuban missile crisis in 1962, White House officials suspected that someone high in the CIA was attempting to undermine the President by providing the Republicans with information.
This suspicion reflected the fact that the Invisible Government has achieved a quasi-independent status and a power of its own. Under these conditions, and given the necessity for secret activities to remain secret, can the Invisble Government ever be made fully compatible with the democratic system?
The answer is no. It cannot be made fully compatible.
[source : The Invisible Government by David Wise and Thomas B Ross, published 1964]
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