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During the first three decades after the war, however, the Soviet threat and the possibility of a cold war turning into world Armageddon muted public scrutiny. The presence of former Nazis and their collaborators in the United States generated little interest from the American public, and even less from the Federal government. In this environment, the Central Intelligence Agency simply avoided any discussion of its roles as having used America's former enemies as intelligence sources and operational assets. (U)
Criticism by various observers takes a broad approach. In particular, the Agency comes under attack for the following activities:
1. CIA, and its predecessor organizations, including the Office of Strategic Services (OSS 1942-45), the Strategic Services Unit (SSU 1945-46), and the Central Intelligence Group (CIG 1946-47), employed German intelligence personnel as sources of information.
2. CIA sponsored the new West German intelligence service, an organization under the control of officers of the defeated German general staff. The ranks of the Gehlen Organization sheltered many officers of the German SS and SD whose loyalty to the new West German government remained in doubt.
3. CIA, and its predecessor organizations, employed former collaborators of the Third Reich, primarily from Eastern and Southern Europe, initially as sources of information and later as the operational assets for activities behind the Iron Curtain.
4. CIA, including the Office of Policy Coordination (OPC 1948-1952), brought German and Eastern European individuals to the United States to provide detailed information on the Soviet Union.
5. CIA, including OPC, formed "secret armies" from various emigre groups in Europe and trained them in the United States. The ranks of these groups included numerous former collaborators of Nazi Germany and some of these people remained active in other CIA projects.
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