Philip Agee, Former CIA Operative and Critic, Passes Away

Philip Agee, a former CIA operative and outspoken critic, passed away January 7 from complications with perforated ulcers, according to Agee's wife, Giselle Roberge. Agee was a controversial figure in the 1970s and was accused of betrayal.

Who was this notorious man: A traitor or idealist?

Born in 1935, Agee joined the CIA at the age of 22. He served as an officer in the Latin America division until he became disillusioned with the agency. In 1968, he resigned after 11 years of service. He then joined the ranks of other notable critics, such as John Stockwell, in condemning the CIA. Of his time in Latin America, he claimed, "It was a time in the 70s when the worst imaginable horrors were going on in Latin America -- Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, Guatemala, El Salvador -- they were military dictatorships with death squads, all with the backing of the CIA and the U.S. government." He added, "I was involved in this. Eventually I decided I didn't want anything more to do with that."

His disillusionment ultimately led to writing a book, entitled, Insidethe Company: CIA Diary. This book, published in 1975, named specific names of 250 CIA operatives and agents. Later, it is alleged that some of those operatives named were killed as a result of the book. It is a claim that Agee denied and asserted that the U. S. government said it to further demonize him. Former President George H. W. Bush and wife Barbara claimed in a memoir that it was Agee's book that led to the death of an agent friend, Welch, in Athens, Greece. Agee sued and the book was revised to edit the remark.

Agee did go to the Soviets in 1973 and offer counter-intelligence. Vasili Mitrokhin, archivist of KGB documents, stated that Agee's offer was turned down by then head of the KGB's Counter Intelligence Directorate, Oleg Kalugin. Philip Agee turned to Cuba and was welcomed with open arms. Later, the Cubans shared information Agee had given them with the Soviets and according to the Mitrokhin documents, it was very useful.

After being deported from London, Agee's United States citizenship and passport was revoked in 1979. It is alleged that with his help, two MI6 agents were killed in Poland. The United Kingdom then caved to pressure from the United States and deported Agee. Labeled a traitor, Agee sought refuge with the Communist party in Cuba and became a celebrity in the Latin American countries.

He continued to write about CIA activities and published, Dirty Work: The CIA in Western Europe and Dirty Work: The CIA in Africa. These books gave information on approximately 2,000 more CIA personnel. In an interview with Swiss journalist, Peter Studer, Agee said, "The CIA is plainly on the wrong side, that is, the capitalistic side. I approve KGB activities, communist activities in general. Between the overdone activities that the CIA initiates and the more modest activities of the KGB, there is absolutely no comparison."

Due in some part to Agee's exposés, the United States enacted the Intelligence Identities Protection Act, legislation that was designed to protect agents' identities in 1982.

After traveling under passports issued then revoked by many different governments, such as Granada and Nicaragua, Agee was finally issued a passport and citizenship by marriage from Germany. In his later years, he and his German ballerina wife traveled between their homes in Hamburg, Germany and Havana, Cuba where Agee ran the only American-owned travel agency, www.cubalinda.com. While most of his clients were Candian and European due to the U.S. embargo of Cuba, he was adept at finding loopholes for American tourists.

Whether an idealist with a cause or a traitor to the country of his birth, Philip Agee remains a controversial figure. As he told reporter Duncan Campbell, "I never stopped what I started...and I don't expect to stop till I'm dead."

He is survived by his wife, Giselle, and his two sons, Phil and Chris.

http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN0959077820080109

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,2238011,00.html

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKagee.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Agee

https://www.cia.gov/news-information/speeches-testimony/1999/dci_speech_111999bushremarks.html