Comment by djsumdog | Hacker News Reader

Comment by djsumdog | Hacker News Reader

I think it would be interesting and heartbreaking to view this calendar. The CIA is not the noble intelligence agency that's sold to the world. There is testimony given before congress that confirms they have injected propaganda into major magazines for decades and they have refused to answer any questions about TV propaganda.

> Flip to April for “The First Sting,” depicting a CIA-trained Afghan mujahideen striking Soviet helicopters with a Stinger missile.

The mujahideen was created when the US convinced Egypt to release their criminals (murders, rapists, some political prisoners) and let them gain freedom by fighting a war in Afghanistan. That's where you get the Taliban. Also in case anyone has forgotten, the US is still bombing Afghanistan. Their civilian population is terrified of drones. It's been the longest military campaign by the US ever. (see the BBC documentary: The Power of Nightmares)

> The mujahideen was created when the US convinced Egypt to release their criminals (murders, rapists, some political prisoners) and let them gain freedom by fighting a war in Afghanistan.

So, Soviets invading the Afghanistan wasn't responsible for anything?

Also I'd like to see some sources.

> The mujahideen was created when the US convinced Egypt to release their criminals (murders, rapists, some political prisoners) and let them gain freedom by fighting a war in Afghanistan.

That is a theory I have never come across before. Can you point me to the book or article that you got that idea from?

I'd start with the BBC documentary: "The Power of Nightmares." It comes in three parts and covers the entire cold war era up to the early 2000s.

You may also want to read up on Sayyid Qutb and Leo Strauss.

The Taliban didn't rise out of the mujahideen. The Taliban started essentially as a grassroots movement by students. There's even mujihadeen who later fought the Taliban.

The Taliban was a response (and therefore inspired and motivated by) the mujahideen, no? So if there were no extremist mujahideen, there'd be no extremist Taliban response.

> The CIA is not the noble intelligence agency that's sold to the world

Huh? I think most people think of the CIA in the opposite way. That CIA is a byword for perfidiousness.

I myself think the CIA is very much a net good if only for the reason that every country has an equivalent (or would have if they could afford too).

Of course it's not perfect but like any large organisation it has its secrets and skeletons in the closet.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com