Philip Agee: The Agee Identity

Jason Bourne is a household name for a fictitious character who works for a government organization used to assassinate people, covert ops, and other seedy deals that the U.S. Government doesn't want its name attached to. The CIA, Central Intelligence Agency, has employed similar techniques throughout its existence. In 1975, a devastating book by Philip Agee hit the bookshelves of London. Within the pages, Agee named people and described assignments that he participated in while involved with the Central Intelligence Agency. "Miles Copeland, Jr., a former CIA station chief in Cairo, said the book was 'as complete an account of spy work as is likely to be published anywhere' and it is 'an authentic account of how an ordinary American or British 'case officer' operates . . . All of it . . . is presented with deadly accuracy.'" (from Wikipedia's article on Philip Agee).

Agee's book, Inside the Company, was a dramatic hit to the CIA. By naming the operatives that were still active put them at risk. By 1990, Agee had been expelled from the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Holland, the Netherlands, West Germany, France, Italy, Grenada, and Nicaragua. While living in London, two MI6 (the British CIA equivalent) agents were captured and killed in Poland. They happened to be two agents he named in his book.

A name not mentioned in his book was the name Richard Welch, the CIA station chief in Athens who was killed in December of 1975 during the Marxist Revolution there. The incoming CIA director, George H. W. Bush, accused Agee of being responsible for Welch's death. As Welch was not named in Agee's book, the accusation was false.

Agee did a lot to bring scrutiny upon the CIA. In the American government, there are three sections: Judicial, Legislative, and Executive. Each is there to provide a sort of checks and balances system for the betterment of the country and the safety of her people. In 1982, legislation was enacted to ensure the safety of CIA personnel. The Intelligence Identities Protection Act made it illegal to reveal the names of agents active in the field. The legislation targeted, primarily, Philip Agee who, by that time, had published another damning publication called the Covert Action Information Bulletin. Only one case was ever successfully prosecuted in conjunction with this legislation.

From 1990 until 2008, Agee lived with his wife, German ballerina Giselle Roberge, in both Germany and Cuba. The United States eventually reinstated his passport allowing him travel to the states. Agee passed in Cuba at the age of 72, on this day, January 9, 2008.

He left a legacy of notoriety. His actions caused legislation to be written. But, what of the recent case involving, not a CIA member, but the Chief of Staff and Vice President of the United States? Of course, the writer is referring to the Plame Affair of recent history. Valerie Wilson (aka Valerie Plame) was working undercover as a CIA operative--classified information. The information was leaked to the press and her name was on the front page of every newspaper, essentially endangering her life. Currently, the investigation centers on Chief of Staff Lewis Libby and Vice President Dick Cheney.

Perhaps Agee's practices were unethical--the revealing of covert and classified information--but, his intentions were good. He was trying to demonstrate to the world that the United States government, at that time, was no better than the Communist regimes they were trying to stifle. Agee stated that the CIA "is an instrument of the President," and that it doesn't decide on policy or act on its own accord.

Perhaps the ideas in the Bourne trilogy are not too far from the truth of the CIA.