In the cavernous marble and glass lobby of CIA HQs in Langley, Virginia there is an inscription etched into the wall. Not some patriotic slogan, but words from the Gospel of John: "And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free." No matter who is president, particularly since 1945, there has been a steady stream of U.S. interventions in countries far and wide. From Grenada to Panama and from Iraq to Afghanistan, there is no country too big or small where the U.S. does not declare it has an interest in. One of the key weapons in Washington's arsenal is the Central Intelligence Agency. sometimes just referred to as the Agency or the Company. The idea that there are rogue agents carrying out their own operations is not supported by facts. The CIA is an instrument of the White House.

Philip Agee was a former Central Intelligence Agency officer who served in Latin America. After resigning from the CIA he lectured and wrote on the Agency's clandestine operations. His activities were not unnoticed. Ex CIA Director and later President Bush the first called Agee "a traitor to our country." He is the author of Inside the Company: CIA Diary and On the Run. He died in Cuba in January 2008.