We could talk about Galland's career in such noble ventures as: Vietnam (1945-1963, 1964-1975), Grenada, and Panama. Or we could talk about his hazardous duty in Yugoslavia.

But right now, what everyone really wants to know about is the CIA involvement in Afghanistan, and bordering Iran. I think, far from the CIA's failure being attributed to quilt-making is rather the phenomenon of blowback, how the CIA helped create the terrorist that is Osama Bin Ladin. The CIA poured billions of dollars into fundamentalist hands in Afghanistan. Maybe it's not blowback at all, simply the consequences of maintaing U.S. interests through terror. Victory can be expensive.

The CIA's actions around the world have made innocent civilians the target of terrorism far more than anything the CIA has actually done to stop terrorism. Infact, the CIA is responsible for training and funding terrorists the world over.

Check out the CIA's Greatest Hits.

"Despite its name, the Central Intelligence Agency's main purpose is, and has always been, carrying out covert operations involving economic warfare, rigged elections, assassinations and even genocide. The CIA is also expert at distorting intelligence to justify its own goals, and this "disinformation" leads to dangerous illusions among our policymakers. But covert operations are its life's blood. The litany of illegal, murderous CIA activity is enough to chill the bones of anyone who cares about liberty and justice. As long as the CIA exists, our government can break any law it chooses in the name of national security."

Counter Punch is an excellent resource for those wanting to know more about the CIA from a critical perspective.

You can learn about the CIA, Contras and Cocaine, an obituary of the CIA's chief poisoner.

You can also look up Covert Action Quarterly where you can read about: How the CIA Recruits Diplomats, Ten Years as Double Agent in the CIA, CIA Plans for Nicaragua, CIA Propaganda Budget, CIA Terror Manual, CIA Ties to Turkish & Italian Neofascists, CIA's William Buckley Afghan Arms Pipeline & Contra Lobby, CIA Assassinations, CIA on Campus, CIA and Indonesian Massacres, CIA and Banks, and the CIA in Cuba, Spain, Denmark, Sweden, Grenada, Mozambique, Iraq, and more... Covert Action Quarterly is the place to go for dirt on the CIA.

Imagine if the CIA had butted out... of the middle east