The CIA and the Pentagon Are Shooting at Each Other

[JEB]

By William Rivers Pitt, Truthout | Op-Ed

http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/35452-the-cia-and-the-pentagon-are-shooting-at-each-other

snip>

You may want to sit down for this one. Here be some foolishness of such raw and ponderous weight that it might cave in the solar system entirely. Ready? Here goes: There are currently two militias duking it out in Syria, in the shaved and shattered death zone between Aleppo, Marea and the Turkish border, and the US government is funding them both simultaneously.

The Knights of Righteousness (yeah, seriously, that's their name) recently got their asses kicked up between their shoulder blades by the Syrian Democratic Forces, who at least have the decency to try not to sound like a band of Marvel Comics superheroes. Nothing new here on the surface; Syria is an abattoir the world will be dealing with for several generations to come.

No, here's the fun part: The Knights of Righteousness (yeah, that really is what they call themselves) have been armed and funded by -- wait for it -- the Central Intelligence Agency. Their opponents, the Syrian Democratic Forces, have been armed and funded by the Pentagon. Ergo, based upon the most recent battle in Marea, the Defense Department went to war with the CIA half a world away.

Once upon a time, during the "good old days" of the Cold War, we fought proxy wars against the Soviet Union and their allies. Now, we fight proxy wars between various departments of our own federal government, using your tax dollars to buy the bullets and the bombs. Thunder has more sense. Newborn kittens are more clever. Stones at least have the wisdom to sit still.

<snip

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The author's name seems familiar. Well worth a thoughtful read though it will likely make you angry sad and sick all at once.

[Dr Hobbitstein]

1. Is he the guy who wrote about Karl Rove's coming indictment? nt

[truebluegreen]

7. yeah, and wrong once is wrong forever after.

[Dr Hobbitstein]

9. What about that Turbo Tax hack that he quadrupled down on?

He's been wrong more than he's been right.

I'll prove it to you in 24 business hours.

[truebluegreen]

35. Oh? How will you do that?

Reference every single thing he has ever written and show that he has been wrong more than 50% of the time? Because that's the claim you just made.

Clock's ticking.

[Dr Hobbitstein]

36. I'll have it to you in 24 business hours. Nt

[ChiciB1]

19. He Used To Post Here A Lot, But Quit Because Of So Much CRAP Here! And

he's been writing for TRUTH OUT for years! Great journalist, great guy and does VERY, VERY good work!

[Dr Hobbitstein]

21. I know who he is.

He's a hack journalist, who rushes to get the story and ends up getting it wrong, then refuses to retract, and instead doubles down. Rove Indictment, 24 business hours, super serious. Then there was the Turbo Tax fiasco that he refused to acknowledge that he got wrong. He's a hack who writes opinion blogs, NOT a journalist.

[notadmblnd]

28. You're talking about Wayne Madsen

I think you're mistaken about Will.

[Dr Hobbitstein]

30. Nope. I'm talking about Will.

I had an argument with him after his TurboTax article that ended up being false. He REFUSED to retract it, then doubled down. Then claimed that TurboTax was hiding the truth, all the while EVERY OTHER SITE that ran the story Will ran with had updated and apologized for the error. Will refused.

That's a SEVERE lack of journalistic integrity.

[Rex]

38. I love watching all 5 of you repeat that over and over like robots.

It tells me how jealous you guys are of Will Pitt. I love it.

[Dr Hobbitstein]

39. Yes, I'm jealous of a hack who can't get anything right.

I'm jealous of a guy who claims to be a journalist but REFUSES to retract anything even when proven wrong.

On second thought, I'm not jealous. Just like I'm not jealous of Bill O'Reilly or Glenn Beck. Liars and assholes, the lot of them.

[Octafish]

40. You do sound jealous.

Will Pitt's a lot braver than you and me and all Anonymous put together. He writes under his own name.

[Dr Hobbitstein]

41. Bravery would be admitting when you're wrong.

Will has NEVER done such.

Which is why he doesn't have a job as a journalist.

My real name is easy to find based on my screen name. Hell, a google search of it even brings up overly-wordy videos of me demoing my products.

[valerief]

2. I guess either way the U.S. will "win" control of Syria. nt

[A Simple Game]

10. As long as the arms manufacturers win nothing else matters. n/t

[jwirr]

18. That has been a big part of every war we have fought since

Vietnam. And if we cannot find real factions to are in some country apparently we are perfectly willing to make some of our own up.

Thank you William Pitt.

[elljay]

20. We were supplying weapons to both Iran and Iraq

during their war. Doesn't get better than that for the military-industrial complex!

[jwirr]

31. But not so hot for our soldiers and our taxpayers. The more

we get to know what has been happening since the 80s the more we understand exactly how the 1% and their politicians have enslaved us.

And just how big this problem we and Bernie have decided to take on is.

[valerief]

27. They ARE the U.S. We are merely their pawns. When the teevee tells us the economy is

doing well, they mean the WAR PROFITEERS are doing well.

[snooper2]

3. here is an actual article on this- written by a journalist

http://www.latimes.com/world/middleeast/la-fg-cia-pentagon-isis-20160327-story.html

[JEB]

5. Only 3 dimensions...=weak sauce

“It is an enormous challenge,” said Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank), the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, who described the clashes between U.S.-supported groups as “a fairly new phenomenon.”

“It is part of the three-dimensional chess that is the Syrian battlefield,” he said.

[bemildred]

4. Thank you Will, well done. nt

[Scuba]

6. This is what happens when we let the MIC run our foreign policy.

[Solly Mack]

8. K&R

[Baitball Blogger]

11. We have found a unlimited market for our guns.

Just arm both sides of a foreign war. Brilliant in its simplicity.

[jtuck004]

12. We have kids going without food, folks going without medicine, to pay for this. Thank you Obama.

Last edited Thu Mar 31, 2016, 01:33 PM - Edit history (2)

Wasn't it bad enough that you let them steal from the nearly 8 million American FAMILIES who have now been foreclosed on for profit, without having to worry about prosecution?

There is a thing called an executive order. You can order people to quit being stupid.

When the Commander in Chief is in command of both the armies fighting each other, he has done screwed the pooch.

Put down the mirror and fix this.

So I am being a little sarcastic - I can't imagine how this damages us in the world, and here. The boss needs to get in the middle of it.

[MynameisBlarney]

13. Wait....what?

https://s.yimg.com/fz/api/res/1.2/0NRkJrqwxf8nVU00JsUSPw--/YXBwaWQ9c3JjaGRkO2g9NjAwO3E9OTU7dz03NTA-/

[libodem]

14. Assholes

[JEB]

22. Could not of said it better. nt

[cantbeserious]

15. The MIC Is A Scam Run By The 1% To Fleece The 99% All In The Name Of National Defense

eom

[tclambert]

16. Dammit! We wanted to name our band "Knights of Righteousness."

I guess we'll have to go with our backup choice: "Central What? Agency."

[saidsimplesimon]

17. We already knew these agencies

are rivals. The creation of a Dept. of Homeland Security, without any real authority or action plan, at a horrible taxpayer expense is a total failure. The intelligence agencies are still not sharing, nor coordinating efforts. I wonder why NYC has its' own intelligence community?

In all fairness, most members of all our security forces are dedicated public servants. When you reach the top ranks, the jealousy, territorial and tribal wars ensue. All said is just my opinion.

[99th_Monkey]

23. "War is a Racket" ~ Major General Smedley Butler

The "War on Terror" US has perfected the process, by blurring distinctions between "allies"
and "enemies" so much that the MIC can arm both sides, fleecing a confused and unsuspecting
public, laughing all the way to the bank.

And who's going to ever stop this shit??

BTW - where the fuck is our $1 Trillion that the Pentagon has "lost track of"???

[Javaman]

24. what better way for them to increase their budgets?

they can work in conjunction to figure out the best way to maximize exactly what they want for next years budgets buy letting each other know what to destroy this year.

to them, this is nothing more than war games with real bullets and read dead bodies.

they are all laughing at us, the congress, the constitution and anything thing else that has some sort of fabricated sense of "amerian values and rights" that people believe they need to rally around.

this is checker players playing chess with lives and not giving a damn what it means to "check-mate" someone.

the pawns can be replace by some other poor sod in some other 3rd world country.

the stakes vary on what the CIA or the Pentagon need at the moment.

and the end game is never established so they can play forever on our dime, while we the people are convinced daily by the media that we have to support this charade for our own protection. Really clever in a evil genius sort of fashion when you allow your mind to sink to such depths.

fraud, charade, scam, grift, you call it what you want, but that is basically what our "foreign policy" has devolved in to.

as one of my favorite bands, Pink Floyd, once said, "welcome, my friends, to the machines".

[blackspade]

25. K&R.

Not surprising.

Now to figure out which corporation is backing which side.

[AgerolanAmerican]

26. albatross

albatross!!!

[1StrongBlackMan]

29. Does anyone know why the CIA doesn't fall under the Pentagon? ...

I would think that kind of reporting structure would minimize instances where the left hand shoots the right hand.

[highoverheadspace]

43. Because that would limit their scope

and mean they would have to actually report their nefarious actions which amount to war crimes and international terrorism, after all they did train al Qaeda.

[felix_numinous]

32. Sounds like they need to stop and take a breath

and re evaluate their priorities.

[Odin2005]

33. A classic case of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing.

Wasn't the creation of the DHS done to prevent clusterfucks like this?

[Rex]

34. Well this is what happens when the paymasters only care about money.

Really it all should just be called MICIA. I cannot believe their proxies are fighting each other...

[LiberalEsto]

37. Where's the FBI when you really need it? nt

[highoverheadspace]

42. Wars for profit.

This is what Eisenhower and General Smedley Butler warned us about.