I swear the only successful thing the CIA has done is convince people they know what they are doing. Like, do they simply operate in volume, because it seems like they are constantly taking 'L's
honestly I think the world was just a very different place back when they had their most successful operations. The US had a massive technological advantage over the often very unstable former colonies and war-torn countries rebuilding after the war, borders were looser, electronic surveillance not really an option for many third-world countries. Like, back then, a CIA hit squad could just bring a bunch of guns on a commercial flight, sexually harass the stewardesses, get drunk and pop a few quaaludes, assassinate an African head of state and be back on base by lunch. Can't do that anymore, because of woke.
The grim thing is that they are such a powerful organization that they can afford to do the strategic equivalent of human wave tactics and just keep throwing schemes at the wall until one sticks.