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comment by cgod
cgod  ·  1369 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Russia Secretly Offered Afghan Militants Bounties to Kill U.S. Troops, Intelligence Says

Haha!

I was just reading about Angola. The C.I.A. really took a lickin on that one.





kleinbl00  ·  1369 days ago  ·  link  ·  

If you read Legacy of Ashes you learn that the CIA has pretty much gotten its ass kicked in nearly every engagement, the noteworthy exception being Kermit Roosevelt and the overthrow of Mossadegh. Of course, Wiener doesn't have much to say about the CIA's successful rout of the Soviets in Afghanistan and it certainly doesn't cover their conversion to covert air force under Obama.

cgod  ·  1369 days ago  ·  link  ·  

The CIA did pretty well in Indonesia, Chili, Argentina and few other places if two million or so unnecessary corpses is doing pretty well. An empire based on Trade became the global standard, an empire that mostly didn't involve our own troops but in which we captured a great deal of the benefit. The CIA was a vital cog in that machine.

That's what I think happened at least. We have mostly lost control of the beast we created but it was a glorious half century if you can stomach the cost.

kleinbl00  ·  1369 days ago  ·  link  ·  

You presume that murder and genocide is the goal. I don't think that's fair - I think any clandestine service given the choice between bloodless control or pogroms will go for the velvet glove treatment. By that standard, Indonesia, Chile, Argentina, and the rest of this list are utter and total cockups. I mean,

So in '76 Operation Condor installs the junta. The junta proceeds to murder 30,000 Argentinians. Less than a senatorial term later, they're invading a British protectorate just to look like they're doing something and we're slipping anti-radar missiles to the limeys to take them out.

Ain't nobody sayin' they can't carry water. It's just not the only thing, you know?

cgod  ·  1364 days ago  ·  link  ·