KAO: CIA’s dark history should persuade students to stay clear

Column: Left on Red

The Rutgers Career and Internship Mega Fair is taking place this week.

Among the many booths of employers in the Rutgers Athletic Center, one stands out: that of the CIA.

Most people do not grow up dreaming of working for the CIA, and there is a good reason why. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the CIA is one of the most evil institutions in this country, if not the world, in my opinion. The CIA does not belong at the Rutgers Career Fair.

The CIA has a relatively brief history — it is only 73 years old – but in that time it has committed more than enough atrocities. The agency has fomented coups d’état against several democratically elected governments: Iran in 1953, Guatemala in 1954 and Chile in 1973 are just a few examples.

It conducted illegal experiments on human subjects involving, among other things, psychedelic drugs as part of its Project MK-Ultra. More recently, it oversaw the barbaric torture performed on suspected terrorists at its infamous “black sites.” The current director of the CIA, Gina Haspel, led one of these “black sites” that was based in Thailand.

The CIA, not the U.S. military, is also responsible for carrying out the bloody drone warfare, which has killed thousands of innocent civilians, first under former President Barack Obama and now under President Donald J. Trump.

It would take more than a short opinion column to adequately discuss the various crimes of the CIA, but it should be more than evident that it is an institution whose basis is moral rot. So why is the University allowing the CIA to not only have a presence at the career fair, but also actively attempt to recruit Rutgers students?

The University would surely ban any criminal organization from being at the fair, but for some reason, the CIA, a criminal organization, is welcomed. The question is a rhetorical one, because what the CIA does is deemed legitimate by the state. Indiscriminate killing, torture and immiseration is fine, because the CIA is acting in the interests of national security.

After all, the CIA is an important government agency. Why would the University not want to have such an illustrious organization at the career fair? I certainly would not expect the University to take steps against the CIA.

But there are still the students. We do not have to offer our labor to the CIA. One of the most common lines of rhetoric surrounding university education is that a university education opens the door to gainful employment. Much less is said about the nature of the aforementioned employment and what ethical standards ought to be applied in seeking that employment. Too often, such standards are set aside in an amoral pursuit for a job. This is rank careerism.

Of course, the structural pressures of the capitalist economy mean that ideal employment for most people is more often than not an impossible task, but there are still lines in the sand that should not be crossed.

One of those lines is working for the CIA. There are plenty of jobs one could conceivably pursue that do not present the moral affront of working for the CIA.

Regardless of the enticements the CIA offers, like the ludicrous, bootlicking "Jack Ryan" propaganda series on Amazon Prime Video that valorizes the exploits of a heroic CIA officer, or cheap appeals to patriotism, the CIA cannot hide its true nature.

It is not just the CIA. The CIA, and other intelligence and surveillance agencies, is part of a larger system of oppression that includes the military-industrial complex. Think defense contractors, like Raytheon, Lockheed Martin and Boeing. These companies are all implicated in the atrocities carried out in the name of the U.S., and none of them deserve the labor of students at Rutgers, or any other university.

As it seems like the CIA will continue to have its booth open at the Rutgers career fair, I hope that it is deserted. If the people from the CIA at the career fair had any dignity left, they would pack up their miserable packets of propaganda and go back to Langley, Virginia.

They have about as much place here at Rutgers as they did overthrowing the government of Salvador Allende in 1973.

Samuel Kao is a School of Arts and Sciences sophomore majoring in history. His column "Left on Red" runs on alternate Wednesdays.

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