The CIA practice known as the ‘eyewash’ has just been uncovered. ‘Eyewashing’ involves sending accurate information only to a very small number of people, and disinformation to all other employees. Senior CIA officials have for years intentionally deceived parts of the agency workforce by transmitting internal memos that contain false information about operations and sources overseas, according to current and former U.S. officials who said the practice is known by the term “eyewash.”

An anonymous ex-CIA officer explains:

“The classic use of an eyewash is if you have a garden-variety source and all of a sudden he gains access to truly sensitive information,“
“What you might do is have a false communication saying the guy got hit by a bus and died. The large number of people aware of this source suddenly think he is dead. But the continuing reporting on that source and from that source gets put into a very closed compartment that few would know about.”

Agency veterans described the tactic as an infrequent but important security measure, a means of protecting vital secrets by inserting fake communications into routine cable traffic while using separate channels to convey accurate information to cleared recipients.Senate investigators uncovered apparent cases of eyewashing as part of a multi-year probe of the CIA’s interrogation program, according to officials who said that the Senate Intelligence Committee found glaring inconsistencies in CIA communications about classified operations, including drone strikes.

The CIA’s mission regularly involves carrying out operations that are designed to deceive foreign governments and other adversaries. But officials said that eyewashing is fundamentally different in that it is aimed at an internal audience — sowing misinformation among the agency’s rank and file.

“The people in the outer levels who didn’t have insider access were being lied to,” said a U.S. official familiar with the report. “They were being intentionally deceived.”

Interestingly, it is often said by skeptics that any part of the government could never be involved in a monumental conspiracy because too many people would have to know about it, and someone would talk.What now needs to be examined is the extent to which this practice still takes places today and who exactly receives the accurate information. Is the true information ever sent to elected officials, or always withheld by this shadow government operating essentially on its own?

Original Story Here

Additional input from 21st Century Wire