Why is it that the CIA, while ostensibly an intelligence agency, instead has operated as a para-military unit fomenting coups and instigating regime change in numerous foreign countries?

Also, has the CIA been operating as a rogue agent carrying out these policies or are they working at the behest of a larger cabal that exists both inside and outside of government?

These questions are salient to understanding how a deep state came to exist in a supposed representative democracy like the US.

These questions are also the key to comprehending the US use of the very same terrorists who attacked us on 9/11 to achieve regime change in Syria.

Unfortunately, questions such as these will also take one down a dark and very deep rabbit hole.