for pointing out that the CIA has a history of very bad associations.
What I said was that the following three less than attractive persons were at one time CIA assets:
Osama bin Laden
Saddam Hussein
Lee Harvey Oswald.
Allow me to explicate point-by point:
Osama bin Laden (Link to NBC report):
...bin Laden, along with a small group of Islamic militants from Egypt, Pakistan, Lebanon, Syria and Palestinian refugee camps all over the Middle East, became the “reliable” partners of the CIA in its war against Moscow.
Though he has come to represent all that went wrong with the CIA’s reckless strategy there, by the end of the Afghan war in 1989, bin Laden was still viewed by the agency as something of a dilettante - a rich Saudi boy gone to war and welcomed home by the Saudi monarchy he so hated as something of a hero.
Saddam Hussein (NY Time report)
The CIA orchestrated the coup d’etat that brought the Baathist Party to power in Iraq. As the NY Times reported in 2003:
According to the former Baathist leader Hani Fkaiki, among party members colluding with the C.I.A. in 1962 and 1963 was Saddam Hussein, then a 25-year-old who had fled to Cairo after taking part in a failed assassination of Kassem in 1958.
It is also well documented that the US supported Saddam in his proxy-war with Iran, providing intel and precursor chemicals for chemical weapons, delivered by Donald Rumsfeld with a smiling handshake:
Lee Harvey Oswald. (report with excerpts from House Select Committee on Assassinations [HSCA])
This is no doubt the most problematic comment, and raised the CT issue. However, before quoting from the testimony, please note, the HSCA completed its investigation in 1978 and issued its final report the following year, concluding that Kennedy was probably assassinated as a result of a conspiracy.
As for Oswald being a one-time CIA asset:
TESTIMONY OF JAMES B. WILCOTT, A FORMER EMPLOYEE OF THE CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY:
Mr. Goldsmith. For the record, would you please state your name and address and occupation?
Mr. Wilcott. My name is James B. Wilcott. My address is 2761 Atlantic Street, in Concord, and my occupation is electronic technician.
[ . . . . ]
Mr. Goldsmith. And, Mr. Wilcott, is it true that you are a former employee with the CIA and that you are here today testifying voluntarily without a subpoena?
Mr. Wilcott. Yes.
Mr. Goldsmith. During what years did you work for the CIA?
Mr. Wilcott. I worked from the years, May, of 1957 to, April, of 1966.
Mr. Goldsmith. And in what general capacity did you work with the CIA?
Mr. Wilcott. All in the finance--in accounting all of the time.
[. . . .]
Mr. Goldsmith. Drawing your attention to the period immediately after the assassination of President Kennedy, at that time, did you come across any information concerning Lee Harvey Oswald's relationship with the CIA?
Mr. Wilcott. Yes, I did.
Mr. Goldsmith. And will you tell the Committee what that relationship was?
Mr. Wilcott. Well, it was my understanding that Lee Harvey Oswald was an employee of the agency and was an agent of the agency.
Mr. Goldsmith. What do you mean by the term "agent?"
Mr. Wilcott. That he was a regular employee, receiving a full-time salary for agent work for doing CIA operational work.
Mr. Goldsmith. How did this information concerning Oswald first come to your attention?
Mr. Wilcott. The first time I heard about Oswald being connected in any way with CIA was the day after the Kennedy assassination.
Mr. Goldsmith. And how did that come to your attention?
Mr. Wilcott. Well, I was on day duty for the station. It was a guard-type function at the station, which I worked for overtime. There was a lot of excitement going on at the station after the Kennedy assassination. Towards the end of my tour of duty, I heard certain things about Oswald somehow being connected with the agency, and I didn't really believe this when I heard it, and I thought it was absurd. Then, as time went on, I began to hear more things in that line.
Mr. Goldsmith. I think we had better go over that one more time. When, exactly, was the very first time that you heard or came across information that Oswald was an agent?
Mr. Wilcott. I heard references to it the day after the assassination.
Mr. Goldsmith. And who made these references to Oswald being an agent of the CIA?
Mr. Wilcott. I can't remember the exact persons. There was talk about it going on at the station, and several months following at the station.
Mr. Goldsmith. How many people made this reference to Oswald being an agent of the CIA?
Mr. Wilcott. At least--there was at least six or seven people, specifically, who said that they either knew or believed Oswald to be an agent of the CIA.
Mr. Goldsmith. Was Jerry Fox one of the people that made this allegation?
Mr. Wilcott. To the best of my recollection, yes.
Mr. Goldsmith. And who is Jerry Fox?
Mr. Wilcott. Jerry Fox was a Case Officer for his branch, the Soviet Russia Branch, [REDACTED] Station, who purchased information from the Soviets.
Mr. Goldsmith. Mr. Wilcott, did I ask you to prepare a list of CIA Case Officers working at the [REDACTED] Station in 1963?
I would note further the CIA still refuses to release 1,100 files on Oswald more than 50 years after his death.