WAR: CIA Trained Scorpions in Preparation for Iraq War

It now appears that the CIA trained some Iraqis into a sort of special forces unit before the outset of the war. Supported by CIA handlers, at the cost of 'millions', the unit of Iraqi dissidents was trained in Jordan in paramilitary tactics. They have been used in many roles, from supply line protection to interogration of detainees. The unit has been mistaken for an insurgent operation on several occasions, and even targeted by coalition forces.



I don't know what to think about this. I suppose it wasn't a secret exactly, but the concept still eludes me. We keep arming people, at the cost of millions, so that we can fight them ten or twenty years down the road. We did the same exact thing with Hussein if memory serves, along with a number of other tyrants.

There comes a time when you have to realize your mistakes and move on. I'd like to be the next in a long line of people to humbly suggest that giving away millions of dollars in free guns might not be the best way to create peace.

Half of the people in America have no interest in paying for these sorts of asinine projects. Wasn't it more than 500 mil. for the Afghanistan military, right out of the taxpayers' pockets? It just seems so insane, and so unecessary. Unless of course we need a bunch of cops in the Middle East to watch our precious pipelines for us. Right...

When I saw the title, I thought this would be interesting. Turns out it wasn't. I thought this was about literal trained scorpions, as in the animal.

Related Thread from ATS_War on Terrorism:

CIA-Trained Iraqi Death Squads Interrogated U.S. Detainees

Originally posted by invader_chris
When I saw the title, I thought this would be interesting. Turns out it wasn't. I thought this was about literal trained scorpions, as in the animal.

You know I thought the same thing. Kind of an MKULTRA for the desert preadator

You wuld be surprised at what a little money can do. The Afgan rebels which were funded by the Saudi's, US, and the UK, hastened the collapse of the Soviet Union. I do not have an issue at all with the CIA trying to prepare the battlefield prior to the invasion. However, the spot that is troubling is the reference to having them do "wet work". That is the part I would like to see more details on

Yeah thats true FredT but the byproduct of that support was Osama Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda. Great huh? Why is the same procedure being carried out again?

Originally posted by subz
Yeah thats true FredT but the byproduct of that support was Osama Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda. Great huh? Why is the same procedure being carried out again?

Its interesting, but I am just finishing up "Ghost Wars" which talks about American involvement from the Soviet invasion through the Taliban. The US never really seemed to ever have contact with Bin Laden even in an indirect role. The Saudi royal family did for sure. This book is neutral to critical of US action or inaction (in the case of ignoring extremeists) but that and other information I have looked at indicates that the CIA's contact with Bin laden are suspect at best.

Indirectly or not , the acknowledged CIA money and know-how passed onto the the Afghanis via the Pakistanis could never be controlled. Whether or not the CIA directly contributed to the rise of Al-Qaeda, via the Aghan support, is not as important as the fact that the CIA continues to export knowledge that shouldnt be proliferated. Especially not to Iraqis.

WAR: CIA Trained Scorpions in Preparation for Iraq War

Originally posted by invader_chris
When I saw the title, I thought this would be interesting. Turns out it wasn't. I thought this was about literal trained scorpions, as in the animal.

I thought the thread was gonna be about a highly trained crack unit of balding German rock musicians.

The Iraqis will quiver and tremble when subjected to falsetto singing and power chords.

Irma, so did I.

I thought they would go Rock the Iraqi Army as though they were a Hurricane.

I thought this thread meant that the CIA did something to counteract this:

Allah sent giant spiders to help iraqi insurgency

Originally posted by djohnsto77
I thought this thread meant that the CIA did something to counteract this:

Allah sent giant spiders to help iraqi insurgency

Scorpions vs. Spiders?

Nice one djohnsto77!!!