“All of the activities cited above demonstrate a consistent pattern on the part of our CIA to undermine and sabotage the war effort.”
I despise the leftists and Cronkite as much as you or any other good conservative. It is obvious that leftists in our media proactively sought American’s defeat in Vietnam. I would even go as far as to say that much of the Watergate story was concocted to gain attention.
But I don’t see the support for a claim that the CIA, in it’s entirety set out as a policy covert or otherwise to have the US lose or withdrawl in Vietnam. Now, were there leftists within the CIA who may have done things to hinder us? Certainly.
But, to say that the CIA is basically rogue and coopted as an intelligence agency put your line of reasoning in the “CIA killed Kennedy in a coup” type of conspiracy reasoning.
Take your #7) “Ousting Nixon through the so-called “Watergate” scandal”
What is your proof of this claim? To say leftists within the media ousted him could possibly be show to have played a huge part. But you are saying the CIA directly did this?
Essentially you are suggesting that rogue leftist elements within the CIA might have pulled off at least some of the operations cited in my post above.
As much as I would like to accept that explanation, I cannot see how any of the seven above-named operations could have unfolded without high-level authorization.
Even the press leaks -- possibly the easiest of these dirty tricks to execute -- would require a willing recipient of said leak on the other end, that is, a willing reporter who works the national security beat and has good contacts in the intelligence world, along with a willing editor who would allow this reporter to pursue the story.
Media organizations, like all corporations, have a strict chain of command which enforces company policy down the line. Press leaks would never see the light of day without the compliance and cooperation of top-level media executives. Such executives do not, as a rule, publish classified information unless they believe that their highest-level sources in the intelligence world approve of the leak.