The Central Intelligence Agency secretly developed an Osama bin Laden action figure whose face peeled off to reveal a scary devil beneath, according to an account first published this week in The Washington Post.
The 2005 effort was meant to produce a toy that could be distributed in Afghanistan. The point was to frighten children and their parents and lower their esteem for the then-hidden Al Qaeda leader, said the Post.
The project was code-named “Devil Eyes” and progressed to at least the prototype stage. Some sources said a substantial number of the figures – whose face reportedly changed when exposed to heat – were actually produced at a factory in China.
Does that sound like an off-beat approach to psychological warfare operations? Sure, but it also sounds like the CIA. In the past the agency has occasionally hatched humorous, bizarre, or downright wacky plans to fulfill a variety of missions. In the 1960s and ‘70s the orders for these things often came directly from the CIA’s cadre of top career officials.
An 18-wheel fuel tanker crashed into another vehicle, toppled power lines, then burst into flames outside...
The president of Wisconsin’s largest mosque was detained by federal immigration agents, drawing accusations from local...
He has buildings, institutions, government programs, warships, currency, and now Donald Trump is getting an airport...
