The little that I know about Chicago Tribune is that it is just about as liberal as the NY Times. Oh well. But, about the CIA, there was a time not so long ago that the American Government used that organization to run around our Congress and fund friendly exiled politicians around the world, and also to influence public opinion and promote American interests.
For example, the King of Belgium and the King of Jordan were among the famous recipients of CIA funds among many others. That doesn't really mean that these folks were our spies - just that this was the most expedient way to get some money to them and help them do what they were doing, often promote friendship and peace between our two countries. Then of course we supported the likes of OBL, again to promote our interests, and that didn't work too well.
The only excuse we probably have is that the Soviets were doing the same thing, while the Europeans have even legalized (for many years, still valid today) the payment of "consulting fees" to individuals that help them secure business or influence local politics. We had to hide it, they didn't. Anyway, we won, sort of.