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James Bernard Shepard's avatar

I write as fast as I can and often reference facts from my memory. Frank Wisner was not in Prague in 1944, he was OSS chief in Bucharest, under the command of the very Nazi-friendly Allen Dulles in Geneva. I have updated the above article accordingly.

The Wikipedia article on Frank Wisner is fascinating and provocative reading, at least to me:

<< On August 29, 1944, Lt. Comdr. Wisner and 21 OSS agents landed in Romania,[6] where he became head of OSS Bucharest.[7][8] Wisner arrived just as Romania joined the Allies and declared war on the Axis…

<< Wisner was recruited in 1947 by Dean Acheson to join the State Department to become the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Occupied Areas. On June 18, 1948, the United States National Security Council approved NSC 10/2 which created the Office of Special Projects.[13] On September 1, 1948, the office was formally established, although it was renamed to the Office of Policy Coordination (OPC) for obfuscation purposes.[14] Wisner was chosen to lead the OPC in the capacity of Assistant Director for Policy Coordination (ADPC).[15] The OPC initially received services from the CIA but was accountable to the State Department.[16]…>>

Oh? Is that right, Wikipedia? The OPC, or was it the Office of Special Projects, was “accountable” was it? Pardon my cynicism.

<< According to its secret charter, the OPC's responsibilities include "propaganda, economic warfare, preventive direct action, including sabotage, antisabotage, demolition and evacuation procedures; subversion against hostile states, including assistance to underground resistance groups, guerrillas and refugee liberation groups, and support of indigenous anti-communist elements in threatened countries of the free world."[17]

<< During the early 1950s, Wisner was the subject of FBI inquiries in connection with his wartime work in Romania, including the claim that he had an affair with Tanda Caradja, daughter of Romanian princess Catherine Caradja during the war; Caradja was alleged in FBI reports to be a Soviet agent. However, Wisner was cleared of all suspicions by the CIA Office of Security.[18]

<< On August 23, 1951, Wisner succeeded Allen W. Dulles and became the second Deputy Director of Plans, with Richard Helms as his chief of operations. In this position, he was instrumental in supporting pro-American forces that toppled Mohammed Mossadegh in Iran in 1953[citation needed] and Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán in Guatemala in 1954.[19] Another project he was involved in was with regard to the Belarus Brigade's leaders, a unit incorporated into a German SS division, who were assisted into the United States after World War II, due largely to his efforts. In defiance of federal law, John Loftus asserted, the Office of Policy Coordination helped obtain visas for Nazi collaborators from Belarus — who were believed to have facilitated numerous atrocities by Nazi Germany. According to Loftus, it was all part of a Cold War scheme to wage guerrilla warfare in Soviet-occupied Europe, in which the Nazi collaborators were to play a key role. When the project collapsed, however, the Belarusians quickly settled in and obtained US citizenship – and intelligence agencies protected them from exposure for decades.[20]

<< FBI director J. Edgar Hoover and U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy succeeded in forcing CIA director Roscoe H. Hillenkoetter to dismiss long-time staffer Carmel Offie in 1950 for homosexuality, over Wisner's objections.[21]

<< Wisner worked closely with Kim Philby, the British agent who was also a Soviet spy.

<< Wisner was also deeply involved in establishing the Lockheed U-2 spy plane program run by Richard M. Bissell Jr.[2]

<< Wisner suffered a serious breakdown in September 1958. He was diagnosed as manic depressive and received electroshock therapy. Bissell replaced Wisner as Deputy Director of Plans.[22] After a lengthy recovery, Wisner became chief of the CIA's London Station.[22]…

<< Wisner died on October 29, 1965, by suicide… >>

Considering the fates of Wisner, Bill Colby and Robert Maxwell, I dare say that suicide seems to have been a traditional retirement plan in the “Intelligence Community”, at least for those senior members who attract too much attention.

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