POTUS Trump is doing a fantastic job of exposing NATO. It is not what you think it is.

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While Reinhard Gehlen was a high-ranking Nazi intelligence officer (head of Fremde Heere Ost), he didn't actually "create" the CIA. Here is how that transition really went down:

The Gehlen Organization: After the war, Gehlen surrendered to the U.S. and convinced them that his files and networks in the Soviet Union were invaluable. The U.S. Army funded him to create the "Gehlen Organization" (or "The Org").

The CIA Connection: The CIA was established by the National Security Act of 1947, primarily growing out of the wartime OSS (Office of Strategic Services). While the CIA eventually took over the funding and supervision of Gehlen's group in 1949, they were separate entities.

The BND: In 1956, Gehlen's organization was handed over to the West German government. But the triumph would not last. By 1968, numerous Soviet moles were exposed within the group and many of them had purportedly worked with Gehlen for decades. The moles even included Heinz Felfe, Gehlen’s longtime deputy. The BND (Bundesnachrichtendienst), remains Germany's foreign intelligence agency today.

Gehlen's Influence on NATO

It is a bit of a stretch to say he set up the intelligence units for all NATO countries. Most NATO members (like the UK’s MI6 or France’s DGSE) had long-standing, independent intelligence traditions.

However, Gehlen's fingerprints are certainly on the early intelligence architecture of West Germany and the way NATO viewed the Soviet threat. Because his network was the primary source of "human intelligence" behind the Iron Curtain for years, he heavily influenced the intelligence reports that NATO relied on during the early Cold War

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