Operation Cyclone operation
also: The Mountains of Allah, Afghan project, CIA program, CIA's Afghan secret war, covert project, covert campaign
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Related entities (most co-mentioned)
CIAintelligence service · 19Pakistancountry · 12Afghanistancountry · 11William Caseyperson · 10Soviet Unioncountry · 9Mujahideenorganization · 8Howard Hartperson · 6U.S. Congressorganization · 6Muhammad Zia-ul-Haqperson · 5Charles Kochperson · 5Robert Gatesperson · 5Vietnam Warevent · 3Inter-Services Intelligenceintelligence service · 3Near East and South Asia officeorganization · 3Charles E. Wilsonperson · 3Soviet-Afghan Warevent · 3John McMahonperson · 3U.S. State Departmentorganization · 2Abul A'la Maududiperson · 2Pentagonorganization · 2Diego Cordovaperson · 2Frank Carlucciperson · 1George Shultzperson · 1Indiacountry · 1
Claims (2)
Operation Cyclone developed
Pakistan host_asserted
“60s and 70s, actually, was when we were developing Muslim student activists, the MSA, to basically conduct color revolutions throughout the whole, basically the entirety of the Middle East. And this includes Bangladesh. Bangladesh is huge. …”
▶ The Colonel's Corner Twilight of the Shadow Government #7 @ 1:27:33
George H.W. Bush first_director_from_oil_industry_for
Operation Cyclone host_asserted
“He went on to become the first vice president and the president to have either an oil or CIA background. And this was leading up into BCCI Operation Cyclone. Really interesting notes. You guys want to talk about some interesting notes comin…”
▶ The Colonel's Corner Twilight of the Shadow Government #7 @ 1:26:33
Mentions (29)
▶ 2:07:16
Yeah, absolutely. So Operation Cyclone, I mean, it's not even really kind of a secret anymore. You know, especially because like Maududi's family lived in New York. Maududi is a guy who created Jamaat-e-Islami back in the 40s, which for tho…
▶ 2:11:01
Isn't that weird that they live in the U.S.? So a lot of them came over, again, going back to Operation Cyclone. Maldudi's granddaughter actually just ran for Cobb County Republican chairwoman, and she lost. But, you know, just think about …
▶ 1:09
And there's Shelly, ha ha ha, over on Rumble. So let's get started. We are on page 479, Safe for Democracy. The chapter is called The Mountains of Allah, and we're talking about Afghanistan. Divisions.…
▶ 1:38
in the administration over the numbers and kinds of weapons to furnish the Mujahideen, perhaps making the solicitation important. Doesn't really matter because they're all going to be filtered through the ISI in Pakistan and they're going t…
▶ 2:04
William Casey, a true believer, never actually made his mind up on the goals of the operation. Well, we know what the goal was. It was to basically take over the opium production, but you can't actually acknowledge that. John McMahon suppor…
▶ 2:34
him against those who wanted to make Afghanistan, Russians, Vietnam. A group that sometimes included William Casey or those who wanted outright victory, including some in the Pentagon Congress and on the CIA's Project Task Force. We don't f…
▶ 2:59
According to Robert Gates, there was also those who feared greater effort would trigger a massive Soviet response and a slaughter. Existing findings made the project a harassment effort. And that was what the Congress committees were told. …
▶ 3:28
That was just made up out of whole air. They have no idea whether that was true or not. Analysts in the Directorate for Intelligence told that the project could not achieve more than a disruptive effect. But Bob Gates, its chief from 82 to …
▶ 3:59
Beef that part up. Thus, in April 1983, analysis by the intelligence Near East and South Asia office that found the Mujahideen incapable of expelling or defeating the Russians made Gates furious. Again, not independent intelligence analyst.…
▶ 5:31
especially useful on Central America. Pentagon efforts to carve out a policy role were simplified by President Reagan, who consistently refused to rule on the differences among his subordinates. Langley's people did not see themselves as ho…
▶ 5:58
to be cleared with General Zia of Pakistan, the Saudis, and others. Chuck Cogan recalls an adrenaline rush when William Casey took over from Stan Turner. But to some degree, escalation had to be incremental simply because the foundations ne…
▶ 6:27
a Soviet Vietnam, but they did. That might have been the idea at the White House, and it was. When Howard Hart replaced John Reagan as station chief in Islamabad, Casey's instructions were simply to go out and kill Russians. Hart had won th…
▶ 6:57
and had led the Near East branch for Pakistan and Afghanistan at the inception of the project. Kogan selected him to lead the station on the basis of their shared experience. A regional conference among station chiefs occurred in late 1981.…
▶ 7:23
Hart cabled Langley on January 14, 1982, to put this on the table. Director Casey took the question to Reagan's special group, now called, again a name change, National Security Planning Group. They met in February, according to Robert Gate…
▶ 7:50
and from the State Department, not to mention Kogan's Near East area, the beefed up project went nowhere. This means this seems possible only if William Casey did not back it. Only after Casey and Zia meeting that featured a new map overlay…
▶ 8:19
Again, in late 1982, when the Pakistani leader again lectured Casey on his view of Russian objectives. The Gates memoir leaves the impression that Zia had to convince Casey. I'm sure it does. In addition, Gates quotes Casey as saying that Z…
▶ 8:51
To the degree that William Casey was in this, it put him in the camp of bleeding the Russians, which again is the whole purpose that they used in Vietnam. Progress did not satisfy the activists. Outside lobbyists reinforced those who sought…
▶ 9:20
the Afghan resistance. Democrat Congressman Charles Wilson of Texas waged what amounted to his own covert campaign against officials he thought insufficiently committed to the Afghan rebels. He fastened on to his agenda Chuck Cogan and Howa…
▶ 9:54
Wilson forged his own links to top Pakistani leaders, including General Zia. He used these to encourage the Pakistanis to demand more than the CIA had authorized them as far as money goes and to demand more weapons and better ones. You get …
▶ 10:26
of ISI. But by 1983, they were being eclipsed as Wilson got more friendly with Zia. Budget levels on the covert program were affected by the lobbying. Reagan administration permitted itself to be moved even further. Reagan doubled what Cart…
▶ 10:59
trying to give them more money. CIA would ask for a couple of million and Congress would give them 25. Charlie Wilson began being a spark plug to this effort. The numbers only grew larger. In 83, 30 million in CIA money ballooned to more th…
▶ 11:29
counterpart at State Department recalled that colleagues handling the program had real worries about what they were going to do with all this money. The diplomatic policy for the deputy CIA director, McMahon, craved to, that doesn't make an…
▶ 11:55
McMahon saw the CIA paramilitary effort as the fulcrum to open a door to an agreement. The more we spend, the more likely the Soviet Union is to buckle. The UN mediation effort under Diego Cordova's begun early. In 1983, it came to a near b…
▶ 12:24
The Russians suggesting that they were amenable to a conditional withdrawal and the Reagan White House preoccupied with Lebanon permitting events to take their course. Instead, the Pakistani and Afghan rebels all objected because they're ge…
▶ 12:55
Meyer, Edward Meyer, told Cordova later that William Casey would say he wanted them out, but he actually wanted them to send more and more Russians down there to take casualties. By the time the Secretary of State, George Shultz, made his f…
▶ 13:21
We had the opportunity early on to have negotiations, but we don't have control of all of the opium yet. So we're just going to keep going and kill a bunch of Russians. Big money combined with funneling aid through third parties led a numbe…
▶ 13:52
Huge amounts of weapons. Pakistani sources report that CIA logisticians suddenly produced 100,000 old Lee-Enfield rifles. Apparently, they got this bunch from India. Howard Hart had championed the Lee-Enfield weapons. These guns put somethi…
▶ 1:26:33
He went on to become the first vice president and the president to have either an oil or CIA background. And this was leading up into BCCI Operation Cyclone. Really interesting notes. You guys want to talk about some interesting notes comin…
▶ 1:27:03
roommate, Jan Pearsley, former director of the World Bank, who introduced her to Muhammad Yunus, who we just installed as the Bangladeshi PM. And you look at Grameen Bank and microfinancing and how that's tied into various different element…