The Concept of Covert Action

The Concept of Covert Action
Question 1:

George Kennan authored a policy document�NSC 10/2�that characterized covert action as those
activities �so planned and conducted that any U.S. government responsibility for them is not evident to
unauthorized persons and that if uncovered the U.S. government can plausibly disclaim any responsibility

for them� (Scott and Rosati 2007).

Is this a realistic expectation for any covert action? Meaning, can we really expect the U.S. hand to
remain “hidden” even if the action is discovered? If this is not realistic then why continue with the policy of
plausible deniability? Or are there measures that can be put in place to make it a continued viable policy?

Question 2:

Compare any two of the cases discussed in the course (except the Bay of Pigs and the Berlin Tunnel).
Base your analysis with the questions provided in the “Lecture Notes” for Week 1:
(1) What was the objective of each operation? Was there an overriding policy imperative or were they

missions to gain access to the adversary�s information?
(2) What oversight or legal review occurred during their planning?

(3) Who or which organizations were accountable for the operations? What turf issues arose prior to or

during the operations?

(4) What resources were necessary to successfully carry them out?

(5) What was the cost/benefit analysis of each operation? Weigh their risks, especially when they are

publicly exposed.

(6) In evaluating each operation, what objectives were achieved and what unintended consequences

occurred?Date

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The Concept of Covert Action

Q.1
The concept of plausible deniability in US intelligence agency
US government has protected the national interest using ways that other governments and
the citizens have limited information about. When the Soviet Union wanted to dominate the
Middle East by attacking Afghanistan, US government entered into the war to assist Afghans to
push Soviet Union outside the country. 1 Additionally, the then prime minister of Iran
Mohammad wanted to nationalize the Iranian oil, the US government through their intelligence
assisted British government to overthrow Mohammad’s government and instilled their puppet as
the prime minister. Finally, the US government is said to have a hand in the assassination of
Patrice Lumumba the president of Congo in 1960 since he gained support of the soviet union to
resist the force of the political opponents. 2 There other many cases that the use intelligence has
participated in other countries’ affairs to gain the interest of the nation in a way that remains
silent to the public domain. Therefore, any clandestine way to influence governments,
organizations or events of other countries in a silent manner is what is referred to as the covert
action. Covert actions are designed by the central intelligence agency to alter foreign economic,
political or military reality on total secrecy. As said by Corke, it is the most controversial level of
intelligence because on top of its secrecy, it requires lethal force in some cases. 3
According to US security Act, covert action is “an operation that is planned and executed
as to hide the identity of or permit plausible denial by the sponsor.” In the CIA Act, it is referred
to as a special activity, both military and political, which the Government can clearly and legally
deny. The CIA is the only branch of security in US that is legally allowed to operate the covert
actions. This means that the covert action can be legally denied by the government or the
officials even after the exposure of such acts. 4 For example, the assassination of President
Patrice Lumumba has been denied by the US government through CIA yet the evidences show
their participation in the assassination. All these acts, both good or bad, are done using covert
action under plausible deniability that allows them to deny any act the government has done. In
this manner, the question is; can US government clearly deny the ill acts that that they have
performed and their hands remain clean about the issues? And is this the expectation of the
covert actions?

1 Crush, J. S. Covert operations : clandestine migration, temporary work and immigration policy
in South Africa / Jonathan Crush. n.p.: Cape Town, 2007. 
2 Callanan, James. Covert Action in the Cold War : US Policy, Intelligence, and CIA Operations.
London: I.B. Tauris, 2010
3 Corke, Sarah-Jane. 2008. US Covert Operations and Cold War Strategy : Truman, Secret
Warfare and the CIA, 1945-53. London: Routledge, 2008.
4 “Covert Action.” (January 1, 2010): Credo Reference Collections

3
Plausible deniability is the term coined by the Central Intelligence Agency around 1960s
to describe the concealment of information from officials to protect them from any repercussions
in the events that unpopular and illegal activities by the intelligence become a public knowledge.
In espionage and politics, deniability is the ability of authoritative player and intelligence
agencies to pass the buck and prevents blowback by furtively and stealthily organizing for an act
to be taken on their behalf by another party presumably not connected with the key players.
Coleman says that the plausible deniability is a legal concept, which gives the American the right
to deny the acts after a covert action. 5 It denotes to the lack of evidence proving a particular
allegation. The Standards of proofs always differ in criminal and civil cases. In civil cases, a
customary of proof is “preponderance of the evidence” while in a criminal case, the standard is
“beyond a reasonable doubt.” If an adversary lacks irrefutable proof of the allegation, one is able
to plausibly deny the allegation even if it appears to be the truth
The acts of covert action should be accepted since in most cases, its benefits are realistic
if it is intended to assist people. There is no reason why one country wants to nationalize oil so
that other countries, which are not producers, continue to suffer. The main argument is that after
overthrowing the government and pushing the Soviet Union out of Afghanistan, there is a party
that should be responsible and answerable to the public. 6 Therefore, the plausible denial is an act
that the US government enacted so that they cannot be questioned if the deal of the covert action
goes bad. It is a defensive clause that leaves them clean even after performing unaccepted acts.
For example, up to now the US government has not accepted that they had a hand in the
assassination of Patrice Lumumba
In this manner, US government should not hide behind the plausible deniability after
performing acts that should be answered. Coleman criticizes the government that why do they
hold the responsibility when the deal of covert action goes good and deny when it goes bad. 7
Crush says that plausible deniability is an attempt to cheat the public and the target government
of the ill actions that the government commits. 8 He says that the government should be
responsible for both bad and good achievement it has done. Although Rubin says that nobody
should be victimized in a court of law where there is no evidence, in this case, there is evidence
that can only be accessed by few individuals in the security agency. 9 Therefore, the government
should be answerable and responsible at the end of covert action if the intention of the action is
to benefit citizens as said in the act of national security agency.
Q. 2
Case studies

5 Coleman, Denise Youngblood. 2013. “Foreign Relations.” Iran Country Review, 158.
6 “Covert Action.” (January 1, 2010): Credo Reference Collections
7 Coleman, 158.
8 Crush, J. S. Covert operations : clandestine migration, temporary work and immigration policy
in South Africa / Jonathan Crush. n.p.: Cape Town, 2007. 
9 Rubin, Barnett R. Afghanistan From the Cold War Through the War on Terror. Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 2013. 

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Covert action of Afghanistan (1979-1089)
Following the Soviet incursion of Afghanistan in 1979, the Central Intelligence Agency
(CIA) launched the largest covert action in the world history to arm and assist the Afghan
resistance. In the next ten years, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and U.S. provided the Afghans with a
lot of money, weapons, and supplies, which included advanced anti-aircraft missiles and
powerful guns. The armaments and assistance proved a decisive and neutralized Soviet support
in the last stages of the conflict and ultimately causing the Soviet Union to come out from
Afghanistan.
Operation Ajax of Iran (1953)
In 1951, Iran democratically elected Mohammed Mossadeq Prime Minister, who vied
under a platform of nationalizing the Iranian domestic oil industries. At that time, the United
Kingdom had a substantial oil interests in Iran through the Anglo-Persian Oil Company. Soon
after the election, Mohammed nationalized the industry of oil, deeply disconcerting the British
government. The British government under the then Prime Minister Winston Churchill asked the
U.S. government to help him remove Mossadeq from power. Through a chain of covert actions,
the CIA of America worked with the U.K Secret Intelligence Services to arrange for the fall of
the Mossadeq government and put the Shah as the president of Iran.
Analysis of the case studies
The main objective of the US and other countries was to fight the Soviet Union from
Afghanistan was the fear of the dominance of the union in the area. The Soviet Union had one
agenda: to increase its borders towards the neighboring countries so as to dominate the area.
Being one the petroleum region, the American and other countries such as Saudi Arabia feared
the powers of the soviet to control the borders. In early stages, the US government had no main
reason as why to fight the soviet through their CIA but only to punish them. American leaders,
politicians, Republicans, and Democrats, feared the Soviets were positioning themselves for a
takeover of Middle Eastern oil. It is for this reason that the other countries together with US
entered to fight for the withdrawal of Soviet Union from the country.
In Ajax operation, the main objective was to remove democratically elected Iranian
primes minister who attempted to nationalize the Iran’s oil. The United Kingdom was afraid of
the attempt of the prime minister to nationalize the petroleum hence secretively planned on ways
to overthrow the government of Mohammad Mossadegh. The US got the interest of the British
government following the consequences countries would have after the nationalizing of the
petroleum as suggested by the then prime minister. The afghan fighters were defending their
government before the soviet came in to support the rivals. In both cases, there was no legal
review as the parties wanted to execute their activities with little knowledge of the public and
other department of the governments. Davenporta notes that no Americans trained had a direct
contact with the mujahedeen. 10

10 Davenport, Christian. “Understanding Covert Repressive Action: The Case of the U.S.
Government against the Republic of New Africa.” Conflict Resolution, 2005, 120.

5
For Afghanistan, there are several organizations that were accountable for the action. The
first one is the Soviet Union who wanted to dominate the area and extends it borders towards the
southern part of the country. The afghan of course had to fight back to defend their
democratically elected government. The US through their CIA secretively entered into the war
by training the Afghans since the dominant of the Soviet Union in the area would threaten the
growth of other countries especially when the region was the chief producer of oil. This was the
probable turf issue that brought the fight for eviction of soviet forces from Afghanistan. It also
included organization such as Britain’s MI and Pakistan secret service known as Inter Service
Intelligence. On the other hand, the Ajax operation was dominated by the United Kingdom and
the American CIA. 11 The CIA used a number of groups especially the Iranian youths to create a
condition in the country that could easily permit a coup operation. The prior issue to this coup
problem was the nationalization of the Iranian oil that could threaten the profits of Anglo Iran Oil
Company that is now known as BP.
As said by the CIA in their documentary, the Afghanistan covert action is the longest and
highly expensive action in their history. Additionally, following the aids from other countries
such as Pakistan, Iran, and china, in deed it is the most expensive covert action the global has
ever experienced. There was supply of billon of dollars to the afghan militants through the
Pakistan secret service, an operation known as operation cyclone. Stanton argues that about $ 3
billion was channeled to the country to equip and train the troops. There were also provision of
antiaircraft weapons, stinger missiles that were provided by the countries such United Kingdom
and the republic of China. 12 Generally, the covert action of Afghanistan has been very expensive
to the US to appoint that there has been senate debate to withdraw American troops from the
country. Although the amount of resources used in the Afghanistan covert action is incomparable
with Ajax operation, the British government had to use good amount to overthrow Mohammad’s
government. The American CIA funded compliable Iranians to pose as communists so as to
create an environment of coup activity. The resources were not limited to bribing the local news
houses to air propaganda against the then prime minister Cormac reveals that the CIA planned,
implemented and funded operation Ajax. 13
The Ajax operation was to prevent the prime minister from nationalizing oil. The
nationalization of oil is unlawful since it prevents privatization of oil from countries that do not
produce oil. As much as it was a move to benefit other countries there was other ways of doing it
not the coup way. One benefits of the Ajax covert action it that it prevented the nationalization of
the petroleum that could pose high prices of oil to all countries globally. Exposure of the covert
action of Afghanistan has no risk at all following the dictatorship of the Soviet Union especially
when they would have been left to dominate the oil rich countries. A study carried by Stanton
reveals that most people were very happy with the American move but as at now very sad with
11 Davenport, Christian. “Understanding Covert Repressive Action: The Case of the U.S.
Government against the Republic of New Africa.” Conflict Resolution, 2005, 120.
12 Stanton, Andrea L. L., et al. Cultural Sociology of the Middle East, Asia, and Africa : An
Encyclopedia. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications, 2012. 
13 Cormac, Rory. “Coordinating Covert Action: The Case of the Yemen Civil War and the South
Arabian Insurgency.” Journal Of Strategic Studies 36, no. 5 (October 2013): 692.

6
the covert action of America that makes them use most of the government revenues outside the
country in military. 14
One of the main objectives achieved in the Afghanistan covert action is to fight the
Soviet Union out of the Middle East. Thus, it has helped in the stabilization of the country and its
neighbors. However, there has been revelation that the funds that were used by US government
to assist Afghanistan is the major root of militants group such as al Qaeda in the middle east
countries. Moreover, the existence of the US troops in Afghanistan up to now is the sole reason
that groups such as al-Qaida are against US government. Ajax operation achieved the prevention
of nationalization of oil that would see countries that do not produce oil spend a lot on
petroleum.
Q.3
Covert action is one of the policies the countries have used to gain national interest. On
the other hand, the US has used this technique to protect the citizens in particular war tone areas
without physically getting involved. 15 It is for those two main reasons that the covert action
becomes very appropriate currently and in future. Following the broad ranges of activities, the
covert action has been viewed a useful tool for intelligence that gives room for the third party to
get involved in activities of interest. 16 Most used by the white house, convert action has
provided results that would have not been gotten if not for the secrecy. In line with the national
security act 503 which states that  “An activity or activities of the United States Government to
influence political, economic, or military conditions abroad, where it is intended that the role of
the United States Government will not be apparent or acknowledged publicly.” Convert actions
are put into action because the policies makers believe and know that secret means is the ultimate
ways of achieving specific and desired goals.
Following the success of the convert action, it remains appropriate to be incorporated in
the intelligence sector of the US. Stanton notes that in a world where every country is greedy for
supremacy, certain actions such as diplomacy have narrow chances to solve the interests of the
government, hence, intelligence should be used to resolve such issues. 17 For example, the use of
covert action in 1954 helped the government to overthrow Lumumba government in Congo in
1961 to prevent the establishment of soviet beachhead that that could interfere with the US
economic interest. Although the US government has been accused of applying the convert action
areas of their interest, cases have been seen when their interest is to assist affected and unstable
governments. For example, the US government has funded The African Mission in Somalia
(AMISOM) to eliminate the effects of Al-shabaab militant group currently terrorizing Somali. 18

14 Stanton, Andrea L. L., et al. Cultural Sociology of the Middle East, Asia, and Africa : An
Encyclopedia. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications, 2012. 
15 Callanan, James. Covert Action in the Cold War : US Policy, Intelligence, and CIA
Operations. London: I.B. Tauris, 2010
16 Ibid, 34.
17 Stanton, Andrea L. L., et al. Cultural Sociology of the Middle East, Asia, and Africa : An
Encyclopedia. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications, 2012. 

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Therefore, as part the national intelligence, the covert action is appropriate and necessary for
individuals and organizations that pose threat to other people and government. In the US
congress meeting, the proponents of covert action argued that there is a need for the covert since
diplomacy and democracy alone cannot protect the interest and well-being of the US citizens. 19
One of the main advantages of covert action is in the principle of plausible deniability.
This is the principle that is clearly illustrated by the Security Council, which directs the CIA to
operate against the groups that pose threat to the interest of the country. As such, it is a
mechanism that is used to defend and act on opponents without declaring wars between the
countries. It is for the secrecy of the covert action that did not make the soviet group attack US
directly when US government cropped in to the war between them and Afghanistan. Converts
actions provide the chance to reinforce overt influencing activities to accelerate the prospects of
the success. Rubin accentuates that to be successful, convert action form part of large scheme of
the foreign policy. 20 It provides an opportunity for the government to get involved in the
activities of the target country where overt commitments are not mature because of the situation
of the target country. Therefore, it provides an option of silent removal from a particular
situation when there is clear evidence that further involvement will not benefit the interest of the
country. 21 Generally, the action provides the CIA agency with an excuse to deny the charges
and the allegation of involvement in wars between other countries because there is lack of
evidence. For example, it is said that the CIA had an upper hand in the assassination of Patrice
Lumumba, the then president of Congo; however, they cannot be victimized since there is lack of
evidence.
One of the major risks of the convert action is that it can result to an unending war with
opponent country. For example, an attempt to eliminate the al Qaeda militants by the US
government turned to be a great war between this group and the US government. 22 The militant
group declared a war against US to an extent of bombing properties of US in other countries. The
same scenario happens to the states that were assisting Somali to remove Al-Shabaab militant
from the country. The militant group is currently terrorizing countries such as Kenya that sent
their military to assist Somali. As said by Radsan, another risk of covert action is the potential
embarrassment of retaliation against perpetrators of convert action in the case of its disclosure. 23

18 Stanton, Andrea L. L., et al. Cultural Sociology of the Middle East, Asia, and Africa : An
Encyclopedia. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications, 2012. 
19 Davenport, Christian. “Understanding Covert Repressive Action: The Case of the U.S.
Government against the Republic of New Africa.” Conflict Resolution, 2005, 120.
20 Rubin, Barnett R. Afghanistan From the Cold War Through the War on Terror. Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 2013. 
21 Cormac, Rory. “Coordinating Covert Action: The Case of the Yemen Civil War and the South
Arabian Insurgency.” Journal Of Strategic Studies 36, no. 5 (October 2013): 692.
22 Rubin, Barnett R. Afghanistan From the Cold War Through the War on Terror. Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 2013. 

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In the end, the US congress witnesses argued that the government has been habitually
embarrassed and criticized domestically and on a global scale as a result of covert actions. Not to
forget, convert action ends up in blood shade and sufferings of citizens of the target country.
Additionally, the covert action was put in place to protect the president and senior officials in the
government to attack other countries without the knowledge of the public and the attacked
country, however, if it is exposed it can lead to a serious war. 24 Lastly, there are financial risks
both on the side of the target country and the donating country. The US government has used a
lot of money on the convert troops and military on covert agendas, thus, the country is risking a
lot of money on such acts while other developments remain stagnant in the country.
The legality of covert action has been a matter of discussion. While some people term it
as unethical act that should be prohibited, some also criticize it as very illegal. The hurdles of the
legality of the covert action has been discussed under the one its operation line known as
plausible deniability. Denial plausibility directs that the government has the right to deny the
actions when they are exposed in public domain. 25 Hence, questions arise that why would the
government deny activities done in accordance with the laws hence it has received legal critics.
However, the executive branch of the government has proved this action as legal. The executive
order of the US intelligence activities issued on 1981 by President Reagan states that one of the
functions of the intelligence is to conduct special activities signed by the president. The section
102d of US intelligence states that “CIA will perform functions and duties related to intelligence
affecting the national security” Thomas Polgar an employee central Congressional committee
said in a symposium that covert action exists and it is legal. 26 However, he said that states only
need more controls to know when to keep the convert action in good taste accordance to the law.
Crush posits that it is not the policies of covert actions that are in doubt, but the keenness and the
motivations of individuals implementing and approving the actions. 27 Therefore, it is important
to note that the laws of guiding the security in US allows the CIA to conduct special activities
such as covet action which makes covert action legal.
The definition of the covert action gives a clear explanation that the act is a secret one
hence should involve few individuals as possible. Corke says that one reason why the covert
action should involve few people is the characteristic of deniability once it is exposed. 28 The

23 Radsan, A. John. “An Overt turn on covert action.” Saint Louis University Law Journal 53,
2009, 485. LexisNexis Academic.
24 Cormac, Rory. “Coordinating Covert Action: The Case of the Yemen Civil War and the South
Arabian Insurgency.” Journal Of Strategic Studies 36, no. 5 (October 2013): 692.
25 Radsan, A. John. “An Overt turn on covert action.” Saint Louis University Law Journal 53,
2009, 485. LexisNexis Academic.
26 Crush, J. S. Covert operations : clandestine migration, temporary work and immigration
policy in South Africa / Jonathan Crush. n.p.: Cape Town, 2007. 
27 Crush, J. S. Covert operations : clandestine migration, temporary work and immigration
policy in South Africa / Jonathan Crush. n.p.: Cape Town, 2007. 

9
other reason why it should remain secret is the reason that the government participates to fight
another country whose actions are not directly affecting the country. Hence, when such
information is leaked to have been signed by the government, it portrays a bad image of the
country. As such, the president should limit his/her information only to the CIA to avoid political
ramifications. Coleman gives an example of good secrecy that led to the death of Osama Bin
Laden, which was only known when the US government announced it publicly. 29 Limiting the
information to few people leaves room for easy withdrawal when the mission cannot be
achieved. The covert action is also defended by plausible deniability that allows the president
and the government to deny the allegation if in any case they are exposed to the public.

Bibliography

28 Corke, Sarah-Jane. 2008. US Covert Operations and Cold War Strategy : Truman, Secret
Warfare and the CIA, 1945-53. London: Routledge, 2008.
29 Coleman, Denise Youngblood. 2013. “Foreign Relations.” Iran Country Review, 158.

10

“Covert Action.” Credo Reference Collections, 2010.
Callanan, James. Covert Action in the Cold War : US Policy, Intelligence, and CIA Operations.
London: I.B. Tauris, 2010.
Coleman, Denise Youngblood. “Foreign Relations.” Iran Country Review, 158. 2013.
Corke, Sarah-Jane. US Covert Operations and Cold War Strategy : Truman, Secret Warfare and
the CIA, 1945-53. London: Routledge, 2008.
Cormac, Rory. “Coordinating Covert Action: The Case of the Yemen Civil War and the South
Arabian Insurgency.” Journal Of Strategic Studies 36, no. 5 (October 2013): 692.
Crush, J. S. Covert operations : clandestine migration, temporary work and immigration policy
in South Africa / Jonathan Crush. n.p.: Cape Town, 2007. 
Davenport, Christian. “Understanding Covert Repressive Action: The Case of the U.S.
Government against the Republic of New Africa.” Conflict Resolution, 2005, 120.
Radsan, A. John. “An Overt turn on covert action.” Saint Louis University Law Journal 53, 2009,

485. LexisNexis Academic.
     Rubin, Barnett R. Afghanistan From the Cold War Through the War on Terror. Oxford: Oxford
     University Press, 2013. 
     Stanton, Andrea L. L., et al. Cultural Sociology of the Middle East, Asia, and Africa : An
     Encyclopedia. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications, 2012.