Unpacking the CIA’s Past: Three Operations Revealed in the Latest JFK Files
On March 18, 2025, the National Archives released a new batch of documents related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, shedding light on the shadowy world of CIA operations during the Cold War. Among the files, three distinct operations stand out: an obscure "riotous operation" in Vienna from the early 1950s, Operation PBSUCCESS in Guatemala (1954), and Operation AJAX in Iran (1953). While these operations don’t rewrite the official narrative—that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in assassinating JFK on November 22, 1963—they offer a glimpse into the CIA’s covert activities and raise lingering questions about the agency’s role in the turbulent years leading up to that fateful day in Dallas.
The Mysterious “Riotous Operation” in Vienna (1950–1953)
Buried in an FBI interview transcript (124-90092-10016), a fleeting reference to a “riotous operation” in Vienna catches the eye. Earl Allen Gold, a former CIA officer, recalled that Serge Peter Karlow, stationed with the Technical Aids Detachment in Frankfurt from 1950 to 1953, made 12–15 trips to Vienna for Agency business. One of those trips involved “a riotous operation going there,” Gold said, offering no further details. The vagueness is tantalizing—what happened in Vienna, and why was it “riotous”?
Vienna in the early 1950s was a Cold War chessboard, split into four zones of occupation among the Allies and the Soviets. Spies prowled its streets, and the CIA and KGB played a high-stakes game of espionage. Was this operation a daring sabotage mission, a chaotic attempt to stir unrest, or a technical espionage effort gone awry? Karlow’s association with William K. Harvey, a key CIA figure later tied to anti-Castro plots, hints at a broader anti-Soviet agenda. Though it predates Oswald’s defection to the Soviet Union (1959–1962) by years, this operation suggests the CIA was deeply engaged in covert antics that might have rippled into the 1960s, potentially crossing paths with figures like Oswald in ways we’ve yet to uncover.
Operation PBSUCCESS: Toppling Guatemala’s Democracy (1954)
Fast forward to 1954, and the CIA’s Operation PBSUCCESS comes into focus (176-10033-10145). This was a full-scale coup to oust Guatemala’s President Jacobo Árbenz, whose land reforms threatened the United Fruit Company’s profits and raised red flags about communism in Washington. Authorized by President Eisenhower, the CIA armed a rebel force under Carlos Castillo Armas, bombarded the country with propaganda via radio, and staged airstrikes to exaggerate the uprising’s scale. By June 1954, Árbenz was gone, replaced by a military regime that ruled with an iron fist for decades.
A memorandum from historian Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. to JFK in June 1961 highlights a surprising twist: the CIA’s thirst for publicity nearly derailed PBSUCCESS. The agency’s eagerness to trumpet its success risked exposing its hand, a critique Schlesinger used to argue for tighter oversight. This glimpse into the CIA’s culture—bravado over discretion—offers a lens into its mindset as Kennedy took office, fresh off the Bay of Pigs fiasco in 1961. Could that same overconfidence have sown seeds of chaos by November 1963?
Operation AJAX: The Coup That Reshaped Iran (1953)
The same Schlesinger memo also nods to Operation AJAX, the CIA’s 1953 collaboration with Britain’s MI6 to overthrow Iran’s Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh (176-10033-10145). Mossadegh had nationalized Iran’s oil, irking the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company and its Western backers. Led by CIA operative Kermit Roosevelt Jr., the operation bribed military officers, staged protests, and spread disinformation to topple Mossadegh in August 1953. The Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, was restored to power, cementing Iran as a U.S. ally—until the 1979 Islamic Revolution turned that legacy sour.
Like PBSUCCESS, AJAX nearly faltered due to the CIA’s publicity push, Schlesinger notes. The operation’s success established the agency as a global kingmaker, but its recklessness foreshadowed challenges Kennedy would face with an emboldened CIA. AJAX’s focus on economic interests also mirrors later U.S. efforts against Fidel Castro’s Cuba, where nationalized American assets fueled CIA hostility—a context Oswald stepped into with his pro- and anti-Castro activities in 1963.
Connecting the Dots to Dallas
Do these operations prove a conspiracy behind JFK’s death? Not directly. The Vienna operation, PBSUCCESS, and AJAX occurred years before the assassination, and none tie explicitly to Oswald or November 22, 1963. The Warren Commission’s conclusion—Oswald acted alone—stands unchallenged by these files. Yet, they paint a picture of a CIA accustomed to covert action, sometimes with little oversight, as Schlesinger warned Kennedy in 1961.
The Vienna operation hints at unreported missions that might have set the stage for broader Cold War entanglements, possibly brushing against Oswald’s Soviet sojourn or his later New Orleans activities. PBSUCCESS and AJAX reveal an agency prone to overreach, a trait that clashed with Kennedy after the Bay of Pigs and fueled tensions over Cuba—where Oswald’s path crossed CIA-monitored groups. Could a lack of accountability have allowed rogue elements to operate unchecked? It’s a question these files don’t answer but insistently whisper.
Why It Matters Today
As of March 22, 2025, these revelations remind us of the CIA’s Cold War playbook: destabilization, propaganda, and a flair for the dramatic. They don’t rewrite history, but they deepen our understanding of the world Kennedy navigated—and the agency he sought to rein in. For researchers, historians, and curious minds, these operations are breadcrumbs in a decades-long mystery: not proof of a conspiracy, but echoes of a time when secrets shaped nations, and one bullet changed everything.