From a recently declassified article, written by an author whose name was redacted, published in the winter 1986 issue of Studies in Intelligence, the in-house journal of the CIA.

As the Central Intelligence Agency approaches its fortieth birthday, those of us in the clandestine service know that we go to great lengths to abide by the intent as well as the letter of U.S. law. We draw considerable satisfaction from the knowledge that a long sequence of presidents, national-security advisers, ranking ambassadors, and informed senior military officers have placed great value on our product and relied on us to…