The CIA now operates as a major military war-fighting force

Evidence

Since the onset of the war on terror, CIA paramilitary activities have grown dramatically. These activities have included the creation of secret bases in places such as Pakistan, Somalia, Libya, and elsewhere in the Middle East, as well as the CIA’s drone assassination program. In short, the intelligence agency has become a major war fighting force. With thousands killed by CIA operations, it only makes sense to consider its expenditures as military costs. In the fiscal year 2013 black budget, released by the Washington Post, the CIA received 2.6 billion for “covert action,” which would include the drone program and other paramilitary operations abroad, and about 2.5 billion for its war operations. — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 641

Categorization

• CANDY: The CIA spending roughly 2.6 billion on 'covert action' and 2.5 billion on war operations is a striking single number worth quoting.