"America hasn't had a civilian government since the end of World War II". These were the words spoken to me as a journalist by a man who had served in Military Intelligence after years of intensive Russian language training at the Monterey Institute for International Studies.

For those who don't know, Monterey has been the academic center for training future Intelligence workers using a pedagogical method developed by the U.S. military. It has been useful not only for providing translators and interpreters for the military, but also the CIA.

The CIA was initially known as the Office of Strategic Services and the OSS was formed as an agency of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Its function was to gather intelligence and generate propaganda. Since its origin, the CIA has operated with a black budget.