"This program was established in the mid-1990s and expanded in the 2000s."
Not sure where you are going with this Iains - you seem to be making my point for me.
According to WIKI the US has been up to its elbows in dirty tricks and coups since just after WW2

"CIA activities in Syria since the agency's inception in 1947 have included coup attempts and assassination plots, and in more recent years, extraordinary renditions, a paramilitary strike, and funding and military training of forces opposed to the current government."

Trump with Britain as his poodle is just the latest and by far the worst affront to human rights and democracy
My point exactly
Jim Carroll