CIA on Vice

Is the Release of Secret Drone Memos an Empty Gesture?

The day has come. Sort of—members of two Senate intelligence committees now have "access" to classified memos undergirding the legal justification for killing US citizens abroad in the war on al Qaeda. But is the big reveal merely lip service? Full story

America's Rules for Drone-Killing Americans Is More Torturous Than America Imagined

Before his CIA pick John Brennan gets grilled in Congress, Obama's own "torture memos" on targeted killings—and a new set of intel on Bush's torture program—shed some harsh light on how America secretly conducts war. Full story

Obama's Got a New Drone Playbook That the CIA Can Ignore

The Obama adminstration is close to wrapping up its so-called drone "playbook" and its most notable marker, for now, is not so much who the policy reins in but who it keeps just out of arm's reach--and thus, hidden. Full story

Obama's Drone Wars, Round 2

Nominating Chuck Hagel and John Brennan as defense secretary and CIA chief, respectively, represents a somewhat controversial re-imagining of the US national security team's expanding drone wars. Full story

Is the Russian Mormon Church an FBI Front?

The Young Guard is the youth wing of President Putin’s ruling United Russia Party. Recently, those crazy kids have started picking on their country's Mormons, claiming they are "foreign agents" paid by the US to brainwash young Russians. They also claim many Mormon missionaries r… Full story

Did a CIA Predator Drone Really Level Homes in Indianapolis?

The theories swirling around a mysterious, deadly explosion in Indianapolis over the weekend sound like the recipe for a futuristic Tom Clancy thriller or a dystopian video game. Full story

What Drones See

Until now, it’s been tough to visualize—indeed, to personalize—the scope of America's covert, hotly contested drone campaigns in the Middle East and Horn of Africa. That’s where Dronestagram comes in. Full story

VICE Meets

Robert Baer

We met former CIA man Robert Baer in a shady motel room in Newport Beach, California, to discuss the difference between the life of a real-life spy and the crap you see in the movies. Full story