I’m diving deep in this first episode of The Bigger Truth Series, guiding you from the roots of American psychological operations in World War II’s OSS, to the darker, more corrosive CIA programs of the Cold War, and culminating in the pivotal shadow of the Kennedy assassination.
1. OSS: Where It All Began
I start with the Office of Strategic Services (OSS)—America’s original centralized intelligence agency. Founded by President Roosevelt on June 13, 1942, the OSS consolidated U.S. intelligence efforts under William “Wild Bill” Donovan, focusing on espionage, sabotage, and propaganda during World War II
We explore how the OSS embraced a morally flexible playbook—cooperating with communists, Mafia figures, and partisans as needed. These pragmatic alliances often blurred ethical lines in the name of wartime victory.
2. The OSS’s Shadow: Darlan’s Mysterious Death
One fascinating and murky episode I bring up is the assassination of Admiral François Darlan in December 1942. His killing remains controversial and suggests the OSS wasn’t averse to clandestine assassinations when political advantage was at stake. It highlights just how deep its operations—and their moral ambiguity—really ran.
3. The OSS Becomes the CIA
After World War II, while the OSS officially disbanded in 1945, its people and mindset survived—first through transitional entities and then formalized as the CIA under the National Security Act of 1947. OSS legacy lived on, influencing Cold War intelligence strategies with lingering, ethically dubious echoes
4. CIA PsyOps That Marked the Cold War
Here’s where things get dark. Under CIA leadership, particularly after Allen Dulles took over as Director in 1953, the agency launched covert programs that tested the boundaries of morality:
MKUltra: Sanctioned in April 1953, this program used LSD, hypnosis, sensory deprivation, and psychological torture—sometimes on unwitting subjects—to control minds and behavior
Project/Operation Mockingbird: A covert effort to influence media by placing journalists and shaping narratives—an early, sinister form of “media management”
COINTELPRO: Though run by the FBI under J. Edgar Hoover, this campaign infiltrated and disrupted groups across the political spectrum—demonstrating how psychological operations were deployed domestically against Americans themselves.
5. The JFK Assassination: Where It All Converges
This episode pivots to JFK’s assassination—a haunting headline from history. I track how many of those earlier themes reconverge:
Allen Dulles, dismissed by Kennedy over Bay of Pigs, was appointed by LBJ to the Warren Commission investigating the assassination. His involvement raised serious concerns over conflict of interest
Richard Nixon—in Dallas on November 22, 1963—left just before the motorcade arrived. Historians note he was there for a Pepsi-related event, and he departed an hour before Kennedy’s plane landed
George H.W. Bush, later CIA director, was also in Dallas that morning—a coincidence that only adds another creepy connection in the intelligence-political nexus
I lay out how all these threads—CIA influence, media manipulation, covert mindset, and tangled personal loyalties—add up to a compelling context for what happened in Dallas.
6. Why This Episode Matters
This episode matters because it:
Traces the lineage from OSS moral flexibility to CIA-era cold-blooded experimentation.
Highlights the ethical compromises of wartime pragmatism turned peacetime power.
Frames a disturbing continuance of these tactics into American politics itself—most strikingly in the Kennedy assassination.
What’s Next: The Evolution Continues
In Episode II, I’ll turn to Michael Aquino and Paul Valley’s MindWar doctrine—developed at Fort Bragg and connecting directly to the OSS-CIA lineage. We’ll explore how they turned these concepts into psychological operations doctrine for the modern era.
Thanks for diving into this with me. Until next time, stay curious, stay questioning—and always seek The Bigger Truth.
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