> Chomsky responds with the typical comment that it would take an unprecedented amount of coordination to have so many people keep the secret that it doesn't ev

> Chomsky responds with the typical comment that it would take an unprecedented amount of coordination to have so many people keep the secret that it doesn't even make sense. That's often the weakest point of conspiracy theories. But I think this argument is exaggerated because it depends entirely on the assumption that 3 letters agencies didn't reach a level of sophistication and didn't accumulate enough know-how over their decades of existence to overcome this kind of human obstacle. Just right off my head I can think of several ways that this risk can and has been minimized: compartmentalization, black mail, child porn accusations (true or otherwise), close monitoring, murder, need to know kept very low, etc. Also as a counterexample, see Operation Gladio where "stay-behind" units formed a hidden army inside NATO countries unbeknownst to their leaders and were involved in multiple terrorist attacks, massacres and harassment campaigns against "leftist" groups they deemed subversive and also to create a "strategy of tension". This has been going on from the 60s to the 80s and didn't begin to be uncovered until the 90s. Also see MKUltra and operation Northwoods for actual government conspiracies, which weren't discovered due to the "unprecedented amount of coordination to have so many people keep the secret".