Fake religious leaders created by USA

[rooboy]

The CIA paid Mullahs and created fake Islamic religious leaders to preach a moderate message and counter anti-American sentiment in the Arab world after the September 11 attacks, a new book said today.

The CIA at War - written by Ronald Kessler, an investigative reporter and author of several books about the CIA and the FBI, also detailed espionage activity in Iraq that supported the March invasion that toppled President Saddam Hussein.

For the book, made available to Reuters in advance of its October publication, Kessler interviewed CIA Director George Tenet in May and other senior CIA officials. The agency supplied most of the photographs in the book.

"In Islam, as in many other religions, anyone can call himself a religious leader," he said in the book.

"So, besides paying Mullahs, the CIA created fake Mullahs - recruited agents who would proclaim themselves clerics and take a more moderate position about nonbelievers."

"We are taking over radio stations and supporting clerics," a CIA source was quoted as saying. "It's back to propaganda. We are creating moderate Muslims."

Kessler said the CIA also paid for Mullahs to issue fatwas, or religious edicts, urging Iraqis not to resist American forces. He did not specify the countries this took place in.

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/09/23/1064082975769.html

[Racenut20]

1. What a great idea

How about creating some moderate Republicans also.

[SheepyMcSheepster]

9. LOL! that certainly made me laugh.

[cprise]

16. I don't think the CIA could spot a moderate American

Because in their book moderates are never allowed to be angry.

[JoFerret]

20. Can exploding cigars

- I mean beards - be far behind?

[Gman]

2. $67 Billion for bribes

has to go a long way. It apparently goes all the way down to the grassroots to buy the minds and hearts of the Iraqi people.

[HPLeft]

3. Works for Me

That's working smarter, not harder. If we spent that $87 billion buying clerics in the Muslim world, and helping people improve their lives on a material level, we'd get a lot more bang for our buck that via Dubya's invasion of Iraq.

[papau]

4. Great - so now any moderate is known to be a CIA fake? sigh

The CIA must approve all revelations about its operations - If anyone with CIA ties, past or present, reveals in print anything about the CIA - the CIA must approve that draft.

So my read is that this is CYA at a huge scale directed against the Bush/Condi/Rummy/Chenney dump on the CIA, and costing the US a major price in security as all moderates in the Muslim world will have a weaker voice.

[hang a left]

5. Tin Foil Here

So what about the Muslim Chaplain, Lee, that was busted with papers he wasn't supposed to have?

[shirlden]

14. Just maybe Lee

was planning on being a "whistle-blower". From what I have read so far, he had names of the prisoners and a diagram of the camp. That does not constitute being a spy or terrorist. Perhaps, being a man of God, he wanted to get in touch with some families, to let them know about their loved ones. Some families have no idea where their loved ones are or if they are even alive, they just disappeared.
I am going to hold on to any judgement about Lee for now.

:kick:

[PsychoDad]

6. Real good...

Like this has no potential to create a very messy backlash.. Now the militants and whackjobs can silence any moderate muslim by pointing to this article and declaring the moderate a CIA shill. And we all know how well loved the CIA is around the world.

This is bad, real bad.
This could lead to a bloodbath of many sensible muslim scholars and the silencing of the rest from fear of the same.

It's a safer world...?

[PATRICK]

10. Agree and more

How on earth could they ever consider this overplayed support of moderates something they could brag about to devout Muslims they subverted? The ludicrous, appalling insanity and insult of this action and then the total blowback of discrediting the Muslim majority seems to show a willful support of fanaticism worldwide- not moderation -whatever that is.

Like giving a car a push to start it and it rolls off a cliff. Whether they planned to help the Islamicists or thought this was a great idea is irrelevant. The results are horrible and criminal and irreligious. But then to expose the plan! They must want the extremists to succeed wildly or they just are completely, murderously blind. No wonder we got hit on 9/11.

[Zhade]

18. Maybe they WANT that bloodbath?

NT!

[TahitiNut]

7. Has this approach been practiced in the US?

Hey ... open in Hartford to get the bugs out before opening on Broadway and then take it on the road, right? :eyes:

[maggrwaggr]

23. my thoughts exactly

I'm sure their reasoning was: well it's worked in the US pretty well!

This government stinks to high fucking heaven. The more you learn, the more it stinks. There's just no end to it. Where's the rotten core?

[leesa]

8. I thought they were talking about Falwell, Robertson, Graham, etc...

[grytpype]

11. At least this doesn't kill anyone.

Religion is made-up anyway, why not make up a friendly version of Islam?

[PsychoDad]

13. True Islam is friendly

just like true christanity. Both preach tolerance, acceptance and peace.
It was the militants and others with their own agenda that hijacked the name of Islam. (you can read the same into Christianity viz a viz Robertson, Falwell, et al.) The majority of Muslims are tolerant people like you or I, who love their children, get along with their neighbors, and have normal lives that will probably never make the news.

You may want to see this:
Struggle for Islam (CNN) - 47 minutes

http://mediaserver.hadi.org:8080/ramgen/CH20/CNN_IndepthIslam.rm

[havocmom]

12. Grab my tinfoil hat. Anybody else see this as similar to outing Wilson's

wife? Is this another case of trying to win through intimidation of the CIA? As in: 'Get tough with us and we will out all all your operatives, one section at a time, and cripple you.'

Anybody but me see the posibility of a "high ranking <mis> Administration" voice blowing the cover off yet another CIA project which may actually be helpful in the battle against terrorism?

Who in D.C. (or any nearby bunker) follows the Winning Through Intimidation doctrin to the extreme? Who in D.C. might most fear being fed to the wolves as the sacrifice to getting out of the fire and back into the frying pan?

Anybody have Lynne's cellphone number? I have a couple questions.

[zekeson]

15. Created in the USA

too. How else to explain Robertson and Falwell? Gee, ya think maybe they had a hand in creating Rush, too? They obviously tried on the comedic front with Dennis Miller but forgot to add the funny ingredient.

:think:

[dfong63]

17. if they can create fake "moderate" mullahs,

... then how do we know that the frightening "extremist" mullahs weren't fakes also? created with the obvious aim of polarizing US and world opinion against Islam?

[PsychoDad]

21. Very good question....

So, they are in fact, "outing" or setting up the moderates, the real muslims, in order to distract suspicion from the whacko militants who were earlier funded and armed by the US to fight the Russians in Afghanistan (Osamma Bin Ladin) or those payed and armed to fight the Iranians (Saddam Hussain)... and may still be on someones payroll.

Or, to assist in spreading fear and hate of Islam, we attempt to prove all moderate muslims are fake, and thus do not really exist. This leaves only the above mentioned US created militants as the "real muslims"

So we come to: "All your Islam belong to us".:silly:


Interesting ....
I'll wear a tin foil kufi :tinfoilhat:

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

19. I thought this was about L. Ron Hubbard (nt)

:crazy:

[LuminousX]

22. That's what it is all about

I have no problem with this. It is crass, but it is also protective in nature.