AFP, WASHINGTON: The CIA released an unprecedented trove of previously classified intelligence briefs Wednesday from the height of the Cold War that were provided to presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson. The collection includes about 2,500 “President’s Daily Briefs” that contain intelligence analysis on key national security issues, the CIA said in a statement. Only the president, the vice president and a few trusted advisors received the briefings, which gave the CIA’s insights during a tumultuous decade that included the Vietnam War and fears of nuclear war that nearly came to cataclysmic realization during the Cuban missile crisis. Historians and foreign policy experts had asked for the CIA to release the briefings, but the spy agency had long resisted. “The release of these documents affirms that the world’s greatest democracy does not keep secrets merely for secrecy’s sake. Whenever we can shed light on the work of our government without harming national security, we will do so,” CIA Director John Brennan said at an event in Texas.