Upvoted, just for the title alone! Haha, instantly reminded me of this nice TED-talk:
On your question "Nobody who works for these shadowy agencies has any idea how to design anything. I want to know why." I can answer that: Because creative people would stay the fuck away from a corrupt and ugly corporation like any of these "intelligence agencies". Following orders, spying on your own people and all the secrecy is not for the artist.
Thanks! And, yes, this TED Talk helps me understand more about where the CIA are going wrong (graphically). Thanks for sharing it!
Morally, the CIA are going wrong too.
Perhaps the two things are related. Maybe if their morality improves, their graphic design will too.
On a vaguely related note, the 'gold'-leaf on the front of my new passport is falling off. And so is the 'gold-leaf' on the government who issued it (metaphorically). Perhaps design is a very good indicator of the entire organisation that it represents.