Osama the CIA Agent

August 26, 2002 5:00 AM

Osama the CIA Agent, he may not the first in the long line of alleged celebrity CIA agents. What about other supposed agents like Timothy Leary, Yakov Smirnoff, Benjamin Netanyahu, everybody in the media or even a kitty?

I guess, we're all CIA agents in somebody's eyes.
posted by RobbieFal (15 comments total)

Actually I've always thought bin Laden was part of the giant Jewish Media Conspiracy.

*ba-doom kissshhhh*
posted by Ryvar at 5:13 AM on August 26, 2002

robotic spy cows
posted by quonsar at 5:19 AM on August 26, 2002

Lee Harvey Oswald.....not a very good agent, but an agent just the same.
posted by buz46 at 6:03 AM on August 26, 2002

While we're on the subject, here's a little something I photoshopped several weeks after 9/11: Disgruntled Employee.
posted by freakystyley at 6:10 AM on August 26, 2002

freakystyley, that's classic! Thanks for a great big grin on a Monday morning.
posted by Shane at 6:16 AM on August 26, 2002

Actually, it is more likely that LHO was an informant for the FBI at the time of the assassination. However, during his "defection" to the Soviet Union, he was probably reporting to the CIA. Then again, there is always the distinct possibility that he was on a John Nash style "mission", I guess we will never Know.

One thing that does seem glaringly apparent is that the CIA has a habit of employing nefarious characters, and then denying culpability when they go haywire and blow up skyscrapers, shoot the president, etc...
posted by buz46 at 6:26 AM on August 26, 2002

Considering the Nazi SS tactics/personnel were used as the first generation of CIA (much like how Nazi scientists like Werner Von Braun built our space program) - shouldn't be too surprising.
posted by owillis at 7:24 AM on August 26, 2002

"Considering the Nazi SS tactics/personnel were used as the first generation of CIA"

first off, nazi/SS is wrong. cant be SS without being a nazi. second SS where rarely used, and usually for info (though their tactics were studied later) Intel master Gehlen (sic sp) was the fellow we used alot. first gen of cia was OSS for which Bill Burroughs almost joined. Juila Childes a few others of note were members. The russians made extensive use of the germans after the war.

Peter Ustinovs' father was a spy.

shoot the president, etc what CIA person did this. which president?
posted by clavdivs at 8:58 AM on August 26, 2002

shoot the president, etc what CIA person did this. which president?

Oswald/Kennedy
Osama/WTC

Isn't that what this thread is about?

The CIA of course denies any association with Oswald. However, documents recently released under the FOIA point to his involvement with intelligence gathering operations after his discharge from the Marine Corps.
Whether or not he was acting as an "agent" when/if he killed JFK is another matter entirely. It does seem that LHO was connected in some capacity to the intelligence community, and in an effort to cover this up or to save face, the CIA and FBI lied about their association with him.
At least that's how the theory goes....
posted by buz46 at 10:31 AM on August 26, 2002

Oops, I meant... "The CIA, of course, denies any association with Oswald".
posted by buz46 at 10:35 AM on August 26, 2002

With all the disinformation going around who can be sure of the truth? This message will self-destruct in 10 seconds...
posted by spungfoo at 10:38 AM on August 26, 2002

Here's a BBC item on the CIA's use of Nazis, including Klaus Barbie. It's interesting to note, in the context of current charges of European appeasement/ moral relativism, that Barbie was eventually convicted in a French court of crimes against humanity. Where was the U.S.'s moral objecetivity then?
posted by Ty Webb at 10:58 AM on August 26, 2002

Bowers' work on barbie states that responsibility falls to John McCloy for the CIC using barbie to ferret out other nazis. he was used to find them high level SS. I cannot pass judgement on this use of a monster to find other monsters. The french had been asking for him for years. They got the Nat'l security 'red flag'. somewhere in there barbie 'escaped' to south america where he was arrested

Where was the U.S.'s moral objectivity then?

"ah 'guzmal', 'guzmal', Mssier Webb"
Vichy?
the world had little moral objectivity left come 45-49. somehow it managed.
posted by clavdivs at 11:36 AM on August 26, 2002

Thanks shane, glad you enjoyed! I had a lotta fun with that one :).
posted by freakystyley at 11:48 AM on August 26, 2002

...including Klaus Barbie. It's interesting to note, in the context of current charges of European appeasement/ moral relativism, that Barbie was eventually convicted in a French court of crimes against humanity. Where was the U.S.'s moral objectivity then?

There's a long history of clemency to war criminals in exchange for info. Triplett's book The Flowering of the Bamboo uses declassified U.S. Gov't doc's to assert clemency was granted to Japanese war criminals (who practiced horrific expermiments on the Chinese) in exchange for results of experiments. (I believe Flowering is out-of-print, but worth searching out.)

WWII example (not a war-crimes convict, but you get the idea:

"Mid-1945-1947: (Dornberger was...) Turned over to the British as a prisoner of war and imprisoned at Island Farm POW Camp in Wales. Dornberger was to have stood trial as a war criminal for launching A 4 (V-2) rockets against London but was acquitted. He maintained that it was Kammler who gave the orders to target London.
1947: Immigrated to the United States where he worked as an adviser on guided missiles for the United States Air Force.
1950: Consultant for the Bell Aircraft Company; participated in the Air Force-National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) project Dyna-Soar which evolved into the space shuttle program.
1954: Published V-2, his wartime memoirs.
1965: Retired. "

And of course there's von Braun, who... "Before the Allied capture of the V-2 rocket complex... engineered the surrender of 500 of his top rocket scientists, along with plans and test vehicles, to the Americans." Mitigating circumstances?

Morality/Gov't mutually exclusive?

(clavdivs, while "nazi/SS" is an obvious goof, doesn't not capitalizing "cia" look about as bad?)
posted by Shane at 11:52 AM on August 26, 2002