[throwrqX]

Well like any subject, you start by studying their history. Declassified documents take a while to become declassified but are a rich source of history. Then historians write books based on those documents and you can get a more reasonable idea of how things worked and fit into a broader picture. For more recent activities it's obviously more difficult but occasionally you get leaks that give you a sneak peek of what is happening (eg Snowden).

[throw10920]

Yup. I'm eagerly awaiting root comment poster backing up their wild claims by pointing to declassified or FOIA'd documents that provide concrete evidence of their allegations that "This type of work is much of what the Intelligence Community does."

Actually, I might even settle for reporting from reputable news organizations.