Hmmm, did the CIA get the better end? I'll bet those that signed on feel satisfied. They were fighting the good fight, in their terms. Remember, everyone got terms.
I doubt the CIA "got" anyone politically engaged on the left to support "imperial war adventures." People willingly went that way and no doubt justified it as a necessary step to achieve their political aims. My response here is to your verb and a gut feeling that sectarian infighting on the left has propelled many intellectuals and partisans to make some pretty shitty bargains. Sometimes its about intellectuals who think themselves more politically significant than they are and seek out avenues to appear relevant. Sometimes it seems that the world stage is but a backdrop for sectarian positioning.
Look, the CIA spells the name of the beast and all that, but ya know after a while folks on the left got to own up to their loopy and loony practices. So joining in CIA sponsored programs has the same hollow ring as elaborate paens to Stalinist virtues ... the great charades of the Cold War. Its the same song and dance with political correctness and calls for its retirement are rarely matched by a suspension of efforts to "police" the discussions or thought, however mild or irrelevant the attempts at policing are.
Dennis Breslin