- Gordon Correra
- Security reporter from Virginia
image source, POOL/GETTY IMAGES
The museum of the American spy agency CIA is one of the most unusual and unique museums in the world. The museum, which is filled with items of historical importance, is not open to the public.
Only here can you see Saddam Hussein’s leather jacket and the gun he had with him when he killed Osama bin Laden.
Located inside the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, the museum has been renovated to mark the 75th anniversary of US intelligence. At this stage, a small group of reporters, including the BBC, were given special access to visit.
Among the 600 items on display here were rat toys used to transmit classified information, cigarette packets with cameras, pigeons with spy cameras, and exploding wine bottles, among others, items used in the Cold War.
Items related to recent popular activities of the CIA were also displayed here.
image source, CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
Shown in the above image is a model of Osama bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan. It was by showing this model that the attack on Bin Laden’s house was approved by the then President Obama.
Seeing things in three dimensions helps policymakers and their soldiers plan missions, says Robert Z. Byer, the museum’s director.
Ayman al-Zawahiri, the new leader of al-Qaeda, was arrested by the CIA on July 30 in Kabul, Afghanistan. Killed in the attack.
The image below is the model used to explain the attack to President Joe Biden on July 1st. Ayman al-Zawahiri was killed as he stood on the balcony of his home after months of US intelligence scrutinizing his movements.
Robert Z. Byer says the models show how counterterrorism officials look at the lives of the people they target.
image source, CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
In the first half of the museum, in 1947, the C.I.A. From its inception, the 2001 September attacks became a clear focus for counter-terrorism, presented chronologically. Items donated by relatives of those killed in the attacks are also on display.
The CIA’s success is not the only thing on display. C.I.A. to oust Fidel Castro in Cuba The museum also has references to the disastrous failure of the program and the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
“This museum is not just a history museum. It’s an operational museum. We bring in CIA officers and show them the good and bad events of our history and make sure they understand the history so that they can do better work in the future. To excel in success and failure in the future.” We must learn from,” says Robert Z. Byer.
However, the CIA’s more controversial sides, such as its collaboration with M16 (Britain’s foreign intelligence agency) to overthrow the democratically elected government in Iran and the torture of suspected terrorists after the 2001 incident, have been less on display.
image source, CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
A prototype of the wrecked submarine K-129 of the Soviet Union.
‘We can neither confirm nor deny’
The second part of the museum was with details of some specific activities.
The phrase ‘we can neither confirm nor deny’ is familiar to anyone familiar with intelligence agencies. How the phrase came about was revealed in a story about never-before-seen objects described in a museum.
In the late 1960s, the Soviet Union’s K-129 submarine was lost at the bottom of the ocean. After America discovered it, the CIA teamed up with billionaire Howard Hughes to recover its wreckage. Tried. It was reported that Hughes was going to explore the ocean floor using a ship called the Glomer Explorer.
The museum has models of Soviet submarines. Also on display is the artificial hair worn by the deputy director of the CIA to disguise himself when Glomer boarded the ship.
image source, CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
The attempt was only partially successful as parts of the submarine broke while trying to lift it up. However, some parts were recovered.
“Most of what they found on the submarine is classified to this day,” says Robert Z. Byer.
When news broke about ‘Project Azorion’ before the submarine was recovered, officials were told to say they ‘could neither confirm nor deny’ what had happened. This response is known as the ‘glomer response’ and is still practiced today.
image source, CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
Materials used to create the cover art for the fake movie Argo are also on display. This is a story that allows us to recover the authorities in Iran after the 1979 revolution.
It was later made into a Hollywood movie. A poster for the mockumentary that the rescue team is said to be making is also on display. It is deliberately designed to be difficult to understand.
image source, CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
The roof of the new museum also has messages hidden in different types of symbols.
The CIA said some of the exhibits could be viewed online. Officials also said that this will be a moment when people will know a lot about the museum.
BBC Tamil on Social Media: