American Strategic Deception Bureau

　But half a century ago in 1960, CIA agents really didn't have many ways to make extra money other than embezzling funds.

　During this era, because the Vietnam War had not yet officially started (the United States called it the Second Vietnam War, the first was the Vietnam War against France), the US military had not yet entered Southeast Asia on a large scale - in other words, the illegal trade channels from Southeast Asia to the United States had not yet been opened.

　Therefore, the infamous "Golden Triangle" in Southeast Asia had not yet taken shape, and the CIA had few informants in Southeast Asia.

　The cocaine industry in South America was just emerging at this time, and its production and refining technology was very immature. It would not enter its heyday until the 1970s.

　There is a domestic synthetic drug industry, but it is the exclusive domain of the military, the FBI, and pharmaceutical companies, and the CIA's authority does not work well domestically.

　As for overseas, the CIA neither controls any large-scale drug production sources nor has it any exclusive market sales channels.

　What’s even worse is that the CIA has to break the French market monopoly in the most profitable European and American markets!

　——The real "world drug king" these days is actually French President Charles de Gaulle.

　Under the tacit guidance and acquiescence of this very principled Frenchman, the Seventh Department of the French intelligence agency "Directorate General for External Intelligence and Counterintelligence" was secretly controlling a massive drug trafficking network that spanned the world, just like the CIA fifty years later.

　During the first twenty years of the Cold War, the most popular drugs in the world were still poppies, opium, and refined heroin, just as they had been in the 19th century. Most addicts, like their counterparts in the 19th century, were either heavy opium addicts or smoked marijuana for a lighter taste.

　Turkey was the world's largest poppy-growing country and the most important hemp tobacco producing area at that time!

　In order to make huge profits at the time, Türkiye simply semi-openly planted a large number of these "narcotic crops."

　After the poppies and hemp are grown in Turkey, they are shipped across the Mediterranean Sea through Syria and Lebanon, which were once French colonies, to the port of Marseilles in France. They are refined and packaged in secret factories in Marseilles, and finally imported into New York, where they are distributed throughout the United States by New York's mafia families.

　In the 1950s and 1960s, 80% of drugs on the US market came from Turkey, imported through French mafia and intelligence agencies. The European drug market was almost monopolized by French drug lords, with even the Italian mafia only able to pick up scraps.

　As for rising stars like the CIA, they were unable to enter this thriving drug trafficking market for a while.

　There was no way around it. The history of the French and the Turks joining forces in this anesthetic business could be traced back to the "Sacrilegious Alliance" in the 16th century. They had been old customers for more than a dozen generations, so how could they allow the Americans from the New World to come in and interfere so easily?

　Of course, just as the United States dismantled the British and French colonial empires after the war, the CIA ultimately destroyed the French dominance of the drug market, cutting off this gray income source for French spies. But this took time to accumulate, and it couldn't be achieved overnight...

　In short, the influence of old colonial powers on all parts of the world will not disappear overnight. At least at this moment in 1960, when many colonies in the world have not yet gained independence, the CIA cannot make much money from the drug trafficking business.

　It has been operating for hundreds of years and is deeply rooted, so the CIA cannot get involved at present.

　Of course, with the onset of the Vietnam War and the rapid collapse of the French colonial empire, this legacy of the bygone era would soon undergo a dramatic shift in the market landscape. Turkey, as a source of supply, would also decline in prominence, quickly losing its title as the "world's drug king."

　But...hadn't the Vietnam War even started yet? Therefore, the CIA still hadn't made much money in the anesthetic business in the past two years.

　Apart from the fact that the CIA cannot currently compete with the old imperialist intelligence agencies in the most lucrative anesthetic business, it also does not currently have much share in the equally lucrative arms business because it has no source of supply - the arms are all in the hands of the Pentagon and the military-industrial complex!

　If there were a big customer who really wanted to buy arms, wouldn't the Pentagon's WAA sell them themselves? That's what Fieri used to promote!

　Taking advantage of the momentum of World War II, the United States established many overseas military bases around the world, which can all serve as sales outlets!

　In addition, every president has his own personal white gloves. As an arms dealer who makes extra money, you can refer to the movie "Lord of War" for details.

　Therefore, the CIA does not have much share in the arms market today. At most, it acts as a broker, connecting the military and buyers and charging a service fee.

　As for the even more despicable practices of protection rackets, human trafficking, and assassinations... well, the ever-hungry CIA is certainly involved in them. But they've only just entered the international market and don't know much about it, so they're lucky if they don't lose money; don't expect to make huge profits.

　Right now, the CIA only makes a little extra money from the "banana republics" in Central America, but it's not much and has to be shared with the FBI.

　——Although in terms of the apparent division of powers, the CIA is responsible for foreign affairs and the FBI is responsible for domestic affairs.

　But the problem is that in practice, this theoretical division is a joke.

　For the United States, which sings the praises of "Manifest Destiny," can Latin America be considered a foreign country? It's clearly its own backyard!

　Therefore, in the early days of the Cold War, the FBI had its own intelligence base and sphere of influence in Latin America. The CIA, as a latecomer, was squeezed into a corner by the FBI, making it look like a bullied young wife. The legendary FBI director Hoover even wanted to merge the CIA into the FBI!

　Later, after a long and difficult game of negotiation, the CIA was able to pull the teeth out of the tiger's mouth and drive most of the FBI's forces back to the country.

　——But it was not completely successful. Until the 21st century, it was still unclear whether many allies were under the jurisdiction of the FBI or the CIA.

　Who makes Americans so careless that they don’t even consider certain countries as foreign countries?

　(Anyone who has watched "Detective Conan" knows that the Americans investigating cases in Japan are the FBI, not the CIA, which is a big problem.)

　In addition, Capitol Hill's funding for the CIA is also very stingy, just like the practice of desperately cutting military spending before World War II.

　You have to know that for most of the time after its founding, the U.S. government was a small government without any formal intelligence agencies.

　So much so that during the Civil War, everyone from President Lincoln to Union generals had to hire private detectives and other amateurs to act as spies. They did not communicate with each other and kept their own secrets, which led to countless bizarre and hellish jokes.

　Fortunately, the Confederates' intelligence was equally poor, often relying on sheer imagination, leading to several fatal strategic miscalculations. Therefore, thanks to the excellent matchmaking system in the North American region at the time, the North and South, despite being weak in intelligence, managed to fight a fairly evenly matched battle.

　Specifically, the Confederate Army was defeated, but Lincoln died, and the final brutal civil war turned into a war between brothers, with little accountability.

　It was not until the early 20th century that President Theodore Roosevelt (President Roosevelt Sr., not the wheelchair-bound Roosevelt Jr. during World War II) formalized his private secret service and the United States began to have formal intelligence agencies. However, like Japan, the United States had multiple agencies, with the Navy, Army, and White House each running their own operations. The diplomatic department also had its own spy organization, and these agencies were very unstable, often established and abolished, and their quality fluctuated.

　As for trying to integrate these disorganized and mixed American intelligence agencies, that was after the outbreak of World War II.

　But in the outside world's impression, these intelligence guys are still the "messengers" and "thugs" of the president or other bigwigs.

　It's something that's not presentable, like a urinal - it's indispensable, but no one likes it.

　Therefore, the congressmen on Capitol Hill look upon these "unruly" intelligence agencies much like the "clean stream" literati of ancient Chinese feudal dynasties looked upon the eunuchs in the palace. They are extremely displeased with them, and with all kinds of suppression and restrictions, it would be strange if they would readily allocate funds to them.

　It was not until 1957, when the Soviet Union successfully tested its intercontinental missile and launched an artificial satellite, and the nuclear crisis and space race arrived together, that the gentlemen on Capitol Hill felt a sense of personal threat, significantly increased funding for the CIA, and demanded that intelligence gathering on the Red Camp be strengthened.

　But the CIA's account deficit was too large before, and the increased funding in the past two years was not enough to fill the hole. It will take several years to achieve financial balance.

　——To make matters worse, the CIA has had little income in recent years but has spent a lot.

　You know, as an intelligence agency, developing all kinds of strange spy props is a

　It's the job of the intelligence agency. It's hard to say whether these spy gadgets are actually useful. But the R&D and production costs are absolutely exorbitant.

　Then, in order to win over the powerful in pro-American countries and bribe traitors in anti-American countries and organizations, the CIA has to spend huge amounts of money on subsidies.

　In addition, the CIA currently has a real estate "pre-sale property" that is a big money-maker and needs to continue to invest money every month.

　The Langley Building, the future headquarters of the CIA, covering over 200 acres, is still under construction and will not be ready for use until next year. To build this massive headquarters building, especially the Langley Building's various expensive secret rooms, hidden passages, and specialized devices, along with its luxurious renovations, the CIA has literally blown through its savings, leaving it practically a "mortgage slave" struggling to pay its hefty monthly mortgage payments.

　Well, because they were fooled by the nuclear crisis, the CIA added bunkers and tunnels underground to the Langley Building, which drove up the cost even more.

　However, even though their workplace has become a "housing slave", the CIA's spies, big and small, are still unwilling to treat themselves badly, and have no intention of sharing the joys and sorrows with the agency. Instead, they continue to enjoy a luxurious life of dissipation and extravagance, and even want to live a life of luxury after retirement.

　——People are forced to hide their identities and risk their lives to do dirty work for the country. If they are not given very generous treatment, how can they be motivated?

　They are not those Bolshevik red-heads who are full of ideals of "liberating all mankind" and can bring their own food to serve the country.

　Therefore, they naturally have to seize any project that can get funding and try their best to make money. Otherwise, how can they fill their own pockets?

　As a result, despite the twists and turns of the entire process and the numerous setbacks, it was precisely because so much of the funding for the "Pluto Plan" to invade Cuba and overthrow the Castro regime had been intercepted and embezzled that it was short of manpower and stretched to the limit...

　Then, the CIA was forced into a desperate situation and had no choice but to push forward this problematic Cuban invasion to the end regardless of the consequences!

　If Project Pluto were to be shelved or canceled, the process would have required the layoff of personnel, inventory and sale of remaining supplies, and transfer of funds to other projects. Congress or the White House would also likely send in an audit to settle the accounts, embarrassing the CIA.

　——Today’s CIA is not so tough that it dares not let auditors “crash”, “encounter bandits” or die in car accidents at will.

　Even if no one came to audit the accounts, the CIA didn't know how to deal with the large amount of debts it had incurred in the past few months.

　In fact, if Project Pluto had not received more funding, the CIA might have been in financial crisis!

　Well, in the worst case scenario, it is not impossible that the capital chain will be broken.

　But the CIA can't just go bankrupt like a real estate developer, nor can it force spies to take out loans to pay their salaries...

　On the contrary, as long as the "Pluto Project" continues to be implemented, according to the CIA, it is better than not fighting a war in any case.

　——First of all, since the plan is to continue, the CIA can obtain more funding from the president to fill the hole.

　Secondly, no matter how great the disparity in the strength of our forces is, as long as the Cuban mercenaries of the 2506th Brigade launch an attack, everything will be fine!

　If the mercenaries win and successfully overthrow the Castro regime, then naturally the good will cover up the bad, and the victors will not be blamed;

　Even if the mercenaries lose the battle, they can take the opportunity to settle the bad debts caused by their previous excessive money-making, and everyone can make a profit.

　What's more, behind the seemingly weak Cuban mercenaries with only half a brigade of troops, there is the invincible American Imperial Division to provide a backup. The battlefield is in the Caribbean Sea, their own backyard. The US aircraft carrier battle group can be said to be on the move the next day. No matter how you look at it, it is absolutely impossible for them to lose!

　As long as the 2506th Brigade can establish a bridgehead on the Cuban beach with the cooperation of its insiders and hold out for four or five days, and not be unlucky enough to be pushed into the sea by Castro's army... then the American soldiers following closely behind will be invited to come and violently wipe out this disobedient tropical "sugar island"!

　To sum up, no matter how many troubles arise, the "Pluto Project" must continue to be implemented!

　If you win, you get the credit! If you lose, you get the score!

　For the CIA, which doesn't need to go to the front lines and face the hail of bullets, it won't lose out anyway!

　-

　Of course, if you want to continue to advance the "Pluto Project", you must win the support of the new President, Mr. Kennedy.

　Without the president's approval, the CIA would not be able to mobilize the Navy's aircraft carrier battle group to support the Cuban mercenaries of the 2506th Brigade.

　If the military does not make any preparations in advance, then even if the battlefield is right at home in the Caribbean Sea, with current technical conditions, if it wants to dispatch a force to raid Cuba and launch a difficult amphibious landing operation, it will probably take at least half a month to complete the deployment.

　And half a brigade of Cuban mercenaries were left to dig trenches and defend the seashore isolated and helpless, resisting Castro's entire nation's army for half a month... If they were lucky, they might be able to hold on, but if they were unlucky, the mercenaries' bones would probably be used to beat drums before the American imperial army arrived.

　——In the early days of the Korean War, the US-ROK coalition forces were able to withstand the North Korean attacks in Busan.

　The reason why they held on to the Nakdong River defense line and the Busan Port defense circle until MacArthur launched the Incheon landing was that the defending army had 140,000 soldiers, while the attacking North Korean army had only 60,000 soldiers.

　That’s right, the Koreans at that time were so stubborn that 60,000 of them dared to withstand the strategic bombing of the US Air Force and take the initiative to attack 140,000 enemy troops!

　If the military strength ratio in Busan is 20 to 1, and the isolated 10,000 US and South Korean troops are fighting against the attack of 200,000 North Korean troops across the Nakdong River...

　Then, it is estimated that neither the Nakdong River defense line nor the Busan Port can be defended.

　On the island of Cuba where war was about to break out, Castro's revolutionary regime had 30,000 troops, but the 2506th Brigade had only 1500 people at most.

　Regardless of Castro's military command ability, without bribing his key generals to defect, he could not defeat 30,000 men with only 1500 men. Even with the bombing cover of the US Air Force, he could not do so. This is basic military common sense.

　Therefore, even if the CIA wanted to act independently in the Cuban invasion, it could not completely ignore the White House and act on its own.

　So, after this year's election, CIA Director Dulles and Deputy Director Bissell met with Mr. John Kennedy and mentioned that the CIA was planning a plan to overthrow Castro, but did not disclose any details - after all, the other party was not the president yet.

　Since the CIA didn't reveal any details, Kennedy naturally just said "I know" and remained silent.

　To ensure that President Kennedy would be able to proceed with the CIA's "Pluto Plan" to invade Cuba after he officially took office in January of the following year, rather than following the CIA's previous president's unconventional approach and directly abolish or shelve the plan...

　——You have to know that the "Pluto Project" was originally led and promoted by Kennedy's election opponent, Vice President Nixon.

　It is hard to say whether Kennedy would feel repulsed by Nixon’s “Pluto Project” after taking office as president.

　In this case, President Kennedy needed someone close to him to help and speak well of the CIA's "Pluto Project."

　So, even though he was still under the spell of Ferry, Deputy Director Bissell changed the subject and patiently persuaded Captain Ferry King to play the role of "favorite" to deceive President Kennedy and cooperate with them to promote the Cuban War.

　Just like the frontline officers of the old Japanese Empire who "rebelled against their superiors" and acted independently, they also needed someone in the rear to support them and speak for them.

　According to Deputy Director Bissell, Fieri isn't an elected official like a mayor, governor, or legislator. Instead, he's a civil servant who's promoted based on seniority within the government. His interests and future are largely tied to his department.

　Now, the Pentagon transferred him to the CIA to help him join the Cuban War that was about to start and gain experience in the melee.

　If Firi not only did not appreciate this, but instead went to the president and made irresponsible remarks, thus ruining the Cuban invasion, then although he had shown his loyalty to Kennedy, he had also severely offended all his colleagues and superiors, and damaged the collective interests of the entire unit. How could he continue to work in the CIA in the future?

　"The president in the White House is like the wind, coming and going every four years, but civil servants have to stay in the police department until retirement."

　Deputy Director Bissell gave Firi this earnest instruction: "So, I hope you can find your own position as soon as possible..."

　According to him, if Fieri could gain President Kennedy's trust in the CIA and provide more funding and support, giving the CIA more resources to carry out the Cuban invasion, then even if the original plan had loopholes, with more money, they could find a way to fill them!

　Well, if he hadn't known long ago that in the original history, the CIA deceived President Kennedy while turning the Battle of the Bay of Pigs into a horrible scene that made the whole world laugh, Fili would have almost been fooled by this seemingly shrewd old man!

　What's more, while the CIA was imitating the old Japanese army and acting independently, it seemed that it had not considered one issue: President Kennedy was not Emperor Showa!

　Well, to be precise, the current President Kennedy and the past Emperor Showa have completely different painting styles.

　——Japan is still in the Showa era, and His Majesty Hirohito still has nearly 30 years of life left.

　The Emperor Showa in 1960 was definitely a completely different person from the one before Japan surrendered.

　In short, after understanding the various strange situations of the CIA's Cuban offensive, Firi, who had originally been somewhat enthusiastic about his work, suddenly felt as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over him, and his whole body deflated like a deflated balloon.

　He walked out of the "Wave" brothel in a listless manner, and faced the busy street, feeling at a loss for a moment.

　It wasn't until he happened to see someone erecting a small Christmas tree in the distance out of the corner of his eye that Ferry suddenly remembered something.

　"Hey, it's already late December. I better go home for Christmas!"

　.

　At the same time, many Russian housewives also enthusiastically supported the war, because their abusive husbands received a generous pension, which was a great deal.

　It can be seen that the Russians should fight frequently. Russians who do not fight are not good Russians.

　Chapter 21: Jin's Christmas Party

　December 24, 1960, Los Angeles, California, USA

　“We wish you a merry christmas, We wish you a merry christmas, We wish you a merry christmas and a happy new year.

　......"