The Mullah Who Came In from the Cold

A new book asserts that the CIA created fake mullahs after 9/11: "agents who would proclaim themselves clerics and take a more moderate position about nonbelievers." According to Reuters, author Ronald Kessler also claims the agency paid real mullahs to issue fatwahs "urging Iraqis not to resist American forces."

Comments

[Madog]

Hey, $30,000 or so is enough to get Jesse Jackson to march with you and stand on your picketlines and even get arrested for civil disobiedience, so it must not be much more to get him to shut up.

[Lefty]

I sometimes wonder if some of the administration apologists who post here are on the payroll. Once you start bribing entire countries to get on board it's a small stretch to do the same with Mullahs or even posters.

Sssh. I think I just heard one under the bed.

[PLC]

What color is the sky in your world Lefty - a world were the administration would care one iota about some obscure web blog?

Here's a clue - no one cares about any of this crap.

[joe]

Don't get me wrong, I admire a lot of what Rev. Jackson does. I think most of targets deserve to get screwed with, and the social pressure he brings can be a good thing.

But it's undeniable that his business model is to get people to pay him to go away. That's what he does for a living; it's amazing.

[Rob]

So you admit the guy runs a politically approved shakedown ring, but you admire him anyway? WTF?

[Anonymous]

what do you expect from a leftist?

[Julian Sanchez]

Oh, great. This is like having special forces pose as journalists. Works great once, then screws you for years to come.

[Lonewacko: Blogging Across Ame]

I've provided this link a few times, as well as suggesting that the mad mullahs should be dealt with, so to speak. The key, however, is to avoid saying stupid things like "We are taking over radio stations and supporting clerics" or providing a paper trail like Johns Hopkins did.

[joe]

^Be nice to the Canadians.

[Jeff Clothier]

If true, that we are planting mullahs where they may or may not exert some influence for peace - why not? People have become clerics for more nefarious purposes. Profit and pedophilia spring to mind. My understanding of the term "mullah" is that one becomes one mainly by declariing oneself so and convincing enough of the faithful that you are worthy of the title. If that is true, than what is happening here isn't much of a stretch.

[joe]

The cost to our credibility in case of failure makes the program way too dangerous.

[B.P.]

I don't know if the claims in the book are true, but if they are, does that mean that the great, silent majority of Moderate Islam in the Arab world that everyone talks about had to be created in a CIA lab? I wouldn't think so, and at the very least I sure hope not.

[Anonymous]

Think they'd pay Jesse Jackson enough to get lost?

[Jeff Clothier]

I wonder just how worried the majority of the despots in Islamic nations are about their credibility with the U.S.?

[Jeff Clothier]

John Ashcroft, if you are monitoring this thread - Where do I sign up to become a mullah? Sounds like a good gig. 😉

[Lefturn]

what crediblity? Chimpy already spent it. We lost the ME, get over it. This is Vietnam all over again.

[joe]

"Think they'd pay Jesse Jackson enough to get lost?"

Do you actually think Rev. Jackson would back off from denouncing someone because of a financial payoff?

Why is everyone laughing?

[Jeff Clothier]

joe. - Sometimes you gotta laugh to keep from crying, bud. Personally, I have a lot of respect for the Rev owing to his participation in Dr. M.L. King's struggle. But, like King's family, Jackson has made himself suspect time and again through shady dealings, lack of financial accountability of his programs for which he solicits huge sums of money in donations, not to mention marital infidelity. All of these are commonplace and ultimately petty carps, but in someone who purports to be a fighter for justice and a leader of his people, well, it does get to be risible at times, although I do think the Righties take it way too far sometimes.

[joe]

"what do you expect from a leftist?"

the ability to hold a complicated opinion.

[Mark Borok]

Interesting. I always thought it would be a good idea to do the opposite; spread rumors that some of the radical mullahs preaching jihad are actually CIA or FBI plants. This would have cast suspicion on actual radical clerics, making it more difficult for them to recruit.

[$.02 spender]

Mark: Interesting, but I think it wouuld be too subtle.