Langley, Virginia - As more and more evidence mounts that the US
government was secretly assisting the Islamic State, it might be time to point
out a few instances when the Central Intelligence Agency created secret armies.
The current theory suggests the
US secretly supported the Islamic State so the Islamists would destabilize the
government of Syrian President Assad. If that seems out of the question,
remember the CIA once started a war over bananas… literal bananas.
Cuba: Probably the best known secret army.
Castro nationalized the assets of western companies after his government
took power, so the US decided to overthrow the government of Cuba
and install a puppet regime. As with most of the armies backed by the US
intelligence establishment, it failed. Miserably. The Bay of Pigs invasion
saw 1400 US-trained Cubans surrender
to Castro’s forces within 24 hours.
El Salvador: The
US-supported Salvadoran government faced opposition from communist rebels. US
intelligence saw an obvious and simple answer: establish death squads. US
intelligence trained and advised pro-government forces as they massacred
villages and led the way to the displacement of over a million people.
Immediately after the ceasefire, there was a general amnesty for people
implicated in war crimes. This amnesty was ruled to be illegal, but remains in effect
anyway. Those seeking justice are often burglarized and the evidence of CIA involvementis
stolen.
Afghanistan: The US armed and trained the
Mujaheddin fighters through Operation Cyclone. Later,
many of these fighters would form the core of the fundamentalist Islamic
terrorist groups we are fighting (or possibly supporting) today. Yes, Osama bin
Laden was one of the fighterstrained
by the CIA in Afghanistan. The whole operation was carried out to stop the
Soviet invasion.
Guatemala: This little CIA caper is the origin of
the term “Banana Republic.” The democratically elected President of Guatemala decided
to punish the United Fruit Company for decades of
consorting with the country’s dictators. He began to propose legislation
to end the US multinational’s monopoly on almost everything in the country. So
what else could the CIA do? The agency overthrew the legal government and
triggered a war… over bananas.
Congo: In the 1960s, Belgium was ending its
colonial rule over Congo. Rather than allowself-determination, the
CIA staged assassinations,
armed rebel forces, brought in European mercenaries, and even backed them up
with a secret air force.
Nicaragua (the second time): In
the 1980s, the leftist Sandinistas took power. The CIA backed the Contra militia that
opposed them. The agency funneled them arms, ran cocainefor them, and
trained the organization that become well known for child soldiers, massacres
at literacy centers, and war crimes of just about every imaginable kind.
Angola: The CIA hired French and
South African mercenaries to assist right-wing groups in their fight against
the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola. The group was competing with
several other paramilitary organizations in a fight to take over the country
after the Portuguese decolonized. The CIA’s mercenary army predictably lost.
Ukraine (the first time): During
the second World War, the Nazis set up a partisan group in Ukraine to harass
and slow the advancing Soviet forces. At the end of World War II, US
intelligence began funding and assisting the
partisan group. The Soviets wiped the partisans out in 1952.
Venezuela: In
2002, a group within Venezuela attempted to oust the government. The US flatly
denied involvement. Of course, there is more than enough evidence to tie the
Bush Administration to the plot. There is even circumstantial evidence a more
recent second attempt.
Ukraine (the second time): The
most recent revolution in Ukraine may have started organically, however, it was
seized upon by US intelligence. The revolution became just another method of
installing a US puppet regime. The US
chose to install literal Nazis. These facts
are largely ignored by US media.
Would US intelligence
secretly back a brutal, murderous paramilitary group to destabilize a country
on the US hit list? Of course. The US intelligence apparatus has been doing it
for about 60 years.
