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A former CIA spy has revealed his key role in the arrest of Nelson Mandela

thetimes.co.uk

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Re: A former CIA spy has revealed his key role in the arrest of Nelson Mandela

#211

Post by WayneBro »

kangar00 wrote: post #83
cm3 wrote: post #5

The CIA is the reason for most of the unstable regions and it's hard to understand how after messing with other places and making it worse for everybody but weapons manufacturers, they're still doing the same thing over and over. Previously it was the fight against Communism, now Islam, I wonder what it will be in 2020. Middle-east, Asia, South America, all are right to be very angry with the CIA, but turn it into a…

> CIA's policy is probably controlled by someone else, and that's where changes need to be made because I like to think they don't come up with the stuff on their own. Beyond you liking to think that, what evidence do you have that the CIA's policy is controlled by anyone other than the CIA's Deputy Director who commands internal operations, and its Director, who reports to the director of National Intelligence as we…

> For the most part, theories of secret groups that control things are false...

I'd like some evidence of that statement.

If you have any evidence that the US is actually a democracy, that would be nice too.

Re: A former CIA spy has revealed his key role in the arrest of Nelson Mandela

#212

Post by green_lunch »

mcbrown wrote: post #58
hmate9 wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because of adblock

Because of malware delivered through unblocked ad networks. (FTFY)

Regardless of your reasons, the end result will be more paywalls or entire articles that are actually ads (this is what yahoo does now).

Re: A former CIA spy has revealed his key role in the arrest of Nelson Mandela

#213

Post by dghf »

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #174
jdimov9 wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are clearly incompetent about the subject. The "ideal" of communism and the practice of communism are not two different things. Communism is practiced precisely the way it is theoretically intended to work. Communism is a cleptocratic system of ruling and exploiting the manual labour and natural resources of any given territory inhabited by unambitious masses that largely lack individualism. The core of the syste…

Are you sure that is how Marx described communism, as a cleptocratic system of ruling and exploiting... I mean, I don't remember reading that at all, just like I don't remember Ayn Rand describing libertarianism as a return feudalism where property rights rule out over the collective of the people. Are you sure Marx wrote that, or are you letting your own bias into your definition? For the record, I live in a communi…

(This is meant as a reply to sievebrain: there appears to be some sort of thread-nesting limit.)

Bakunin did on occasion describe himself as a communist; but like Kropotkin, his communism was of the libertarian rather than authoritarian variety.

Re: A former CIA spy has revealed his key role in the arrest of Nelson Mandela

#214

Post by bane »

cm3 wrote: post #5

The CIA is the reason for most of the unstable regions and it's hard to understand how after messing with other places and making it worse for everybody but weapons manufacturers, they're still doing the same thing over and over. Previously it was the fight against Communism, now Islam, I wonder what it will be in 2020. Middle-east, Asia, South America, all are right to be very angry with the CIA, but turn it into a…

> The CIA is the reason for most of the unstable regions

Perhaps the CIA is thus wildly successful? That may be their primary mission.

Re: A former CIA spy has revealed his key role in the arrest of Nelson Mandela

#216

Post by ae_keji »

Koshkin wrote: post #191
jdimov9 wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been told this a number of times. I've never read any Ayn Rand - probably should. I was, however, born and raised in communism, as were my parents, so I talk from experience.

You weren't raised "in communism". You lived in a socialist country ruled by an organization which, depending on the country, might or even might have not called itself communist party. Communism might have been the proclaimed goal of that government, but in reality that was little more than an ideological slogan.

I think authoritarian left wing communist "transition states", are what most people mean by communism now. The word has evolved and changed meaning. Also, I believe that because the two are synonymous, and there never was any "true communism" implemented according to many, expressing communism as the above isn't too factually inaccurate. If someone calls their self something, and is labeled that thing, they'll eventually be that thing. In this case, "communist" governments.

Re: A former CIA spy has revealed his key role in the arrest of Nelson Mandela

#218

Post by ZenoArrow »

EliRivers wrote: post #187
ZenoArrow wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One thing I find bizarre about 9/11 is that very few people seem to openly question why the World Trade Center was amongst the top targets that day. Perhaps if people looked a little deeper into what the WTO does it might help us make better decisions going forward. In the interest of balance, the situation on 9/11 wasn't completely the fault of the US. Saudi Arabia appears to have been the main driving force behind…

One thing I find bizarre about 9/11 is that very few people seem to openly question why the World Trade Center was amongst the top targets that day. Makes a lot of sense to me. NYC is an obvious top target. WTC is a big building, so high body count. Well known around the world; will have more impact than hitting some building nobody has ever heard of. Very distinctive appearance and a lot taller than the buildings ar…

Sure. Turns out I was mistaken about the WTC being the headquarters of the WTO. I still stand by the second and third paragraphs of my earlier comment.

Re: A former CIA spy has revealed his key role in the arrest of Nelson Mandela

#219

Post by dannypgh »

awinder wrote: post #94
hasenj wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How did they "lose" Iraq? They successfully invaded the country, changed the regime, changed the military, the police, the government .. everything. Then they left. Iraq is in utter chaos, the US is doing just fine. How exactly did the US "lose" in Iraq?

Because the stated goal of that war was for the instilled government to survive and for democracy to transform the region. Not for the country to become destabilized with former military operatives to go into Syria and form the next great political catastrophe. That definitely wasn't a "win" long term.

It irks me whenever anyone makes a claim about the "stated goal of that war" and completely omits talk of WMD, despite their alleged presence being key to the claimed legal basis for the war, presentation to the UN, etc.

GWB:

"Our nation enters this conflict reluctantly, yet our purpose is sure. The people of the United States and our friends and allies will not live at the mercy of an outlaw regime that threatens the peace with weapons of mass murder."

Re: A former CIA spy has revealed his key role in the arrest of Nelson Mandela

#220

Post by nxzero »

c2the3rd wrote: post #207

I would like to thank all the people who had a comment on this article, but did not post it. Truly, you improve the community with your silence. I'm aware of my own hypocrisy on this point, but logical consistency would prevent this sentiment from ever being expressed. As it is, perhaps 5% of these comments know anything about what they are talking about. One of the biggest intellectual failings of the sort that freq…

>> "I'm aware of my own hypocrisy on this point"

Given I commented, calling you out to explicitly state why you feel that my comments on this page somehow show that I don't know what I'm talking about.

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