Robert Komer and the Pink Slips of a Managed War
The human cost of pacification in Vietnam was calculated in shadows, hidden behind a routing system of pink slips that diverted the most sensitive files from the general record.
By Desmond Okafor ·
NSC
Sanction Relief and the 1999 Calculation to Trade Food for Missiles
Thousands starved in North Korea while the NSC weighed how many calories were worth a missile moratorium, a strategy kept secret until the record's release.
By Eleanor Voss ·
Dick Cheney and the 1987 Blueprint for Lawless Diplomacy
A report defending the illegal funding of Nicaraguan rebels argued the president could bypass Congress via "designated agents"—a logic that would later fuel the Iraq War.
By Harlan Pryce ·
NSC decisions on covert psychological warfare launched CIA secret operations
The shift from gathering intelligence to conducting covert operations stayed buried in numerical files while the agency's psychological warfare began to reshape foreign capitals.
By Desmond Okafor ·
General Alfredo Canales offered to outlaw Chilean parties for US loans
Kept secret as "Sensitive" in the Nixon files, this 1972 exchange shows how Washington viewed the suspension of Chilean civil liberties as a bargaining chip for a coup.
By Desmond Okafor ·
President orders flights without fighter escort as one plane goes overdue
A pilot's wrong turn over the USSR was kept secret to avoid a second front while the White House weighed a general air response as reconnaissance planes took ground fire.
By Roy Castellano ·
Kennedy orders 15 aircraft to verify IL-28 bombers in Cuba
Soviet promises left the administration skeptical and watching, demanding 15 aircraft to track bombers and set strict conditions for a promised non-invasion pledge.
By Vera Kessler ·
Castro seeks secret channel as NSC weighs 'Oswald business'
Intermediaries used a buffer to maintain a clandestine channel to Havana while Gordon Chase feared a link to Lee Harvey Oswald would trigger a political disaster.
By Theo Marchetti ·