I have absolutely no reason to think Cloudflare is a covert CIA operation. In fact, I’m sure there are plenty of good reasons to think it isn’t. But if it were, pretty much everything it does is exactly what you'd expect from one.

Of course it's not a CIA operation — that agency is foreign intelligence agency. The domestic intelligence agency is called NSA.

The more people join in and become dependent on CF, the more incentive there is to subvert CF. Or am I being dumb?

Another thing is the motivation to send people to work for CF. And another thing is the question of preparation vs hope.

Are you, by chance, an operative, sir? :)