International Organizations Division
Division of the CIA set up in 1950 to control psychological warfare operations. Its first head was Tom Braden.[1]
- The IOD operated according to the same principles that guided Wisner's management of the Non-Communist Left. The purpose of supporting leftist groups was not to destroy or even to dominate, but rather to maintain a discreet proximity to and monitor the thinking of such groups; to provide them with a mouthpiece so that they could blow off steam; and, in extremis, to exercise a final veto on their publicity and possibly their actions if they ever got too 'radical'. Braden issued clear instructions to his newly established IOD posts in Europe: 'Limit the money to amounts private organisations can credibly spend; disguise the extent of American interest; protect the integrity of the organisation by not requiring it to support every aspect of official American policy.'[2]
