Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Who's Your Daddy?]

Just watched this movie (Ghost Writer). The climax of the movie is that someone secretly worked for the CIA.

So I'm like, yah, so what? That's the climax. But it's presented like CIA worker = baby killer/mass murderer.

Do people really think that way?

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I don't want to write like Nixon, "CIA great" stuff, but I don't think it's like pure evil either.

[Harpeau]

CIA = Controlls Opium Poppies in Afghanistan = evil.

[thomas pars]

It's a well known fact, or at least it should be that the CIA in the 1950's to say about 2002 were directly complicit in the overthrows of many many countries. One of the first was the 1954 Guatemalan coup d'etat. It was launched to oust the democratically elected Arbenz- a pro leftist administration...there was also some desire for the Americans to get their hands on the United Fruit Companies banana share.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1954_Guatemalan_coup_d'%C3%A9tat

Though this was one of the first it certainly wans't the last. 1953 coup in Iran. the 1973 coup in Chile. And many many more.

Cuba, Congo, Iraq, Brazil, Ghana, Afghanistan, Argentina, Nicaragua, El Salvador. To name but a few.

They then put in some bad bad dudes. Like Pinochet and the Shah and these guys murdered college students, intellectuals, newspaper editors, union leaders, even leaders of the Catholic Church. Basically anyone that would get in the way.

So is the CIA evil? Well in the sense that they facilitated some of the most heinous state sponsored terrorists...yeah they are pretty evil.

[tjmauermann]

CIA is no more evil than any other foreign intelligence service(MI6, FSB, Mossad). They just get bad press because if they published all of the good things they have done the role in the event would be compromised.

[rogue123]

The CIA is functional in serving and promoting the interests of US corporate capitalism.

the best book on the subject:
Killing Hope: US Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II
by William Blum

[RMNC]

People that think the CIA is evil (or more evil than any other intelligence agency?) are mostly the same people that think that the government puts transmitters and microphones in their shoe soles.

[northway]

[itistime]

not saying something is evil because 'it is what it is' = evil
But they're not the only ones.

[Leon]

[redaxe]

I think they're more incompetent than evil.

[bucheon bum]

[comm]

[northway]

[Steelrails]

I always love how people assume these government agencies have legions of brilliant masterminds to do all of these things.

Where are these loads of brilliant people? How come they never make mistakes? How come they always can keep silent? (At least according to the conspiracy theorists)

Way too much of an overestimation of the human species capacities.