>>2727691 LB
CIA is the operations arm of the state dept.
makes perfect sense. know the landscape, know how to set the pins to knock them down where needed.
it has been removed but the CIA website history page used to have a statement that the CIA was created and serves at the direction of the the POTUS and only the POTUS – a private army so to speak.
taken in that context, the importance of CIA to state dept operations comes into better focus.