
A CIA calendar the CIA gift shop refuses to sell - benologist
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/a-cia-calendar-the-cia-gift-shop-refuses-to-sell-yes-and-heres-the-strange-story-behind-it/2016/12/28/bde03862-c604-11e6-8bee-54e800ef2a63_story.html
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escape_goat
It would be interesting to gain some professional insight on what's happening
here, as I (like several other responders) find this article somewhat
objectionable. The story that is presented literally ends with these words:

> the gift shop can’t sell the calendar because "it’s not an official work of
> the U.S. government

There's no need for punctuation, no need to close the quote. The story is
over.

There's still a question in my mind, though, about how this came to pass.
Looking at the story closely, it appears to largely consist of a human
interest filler piece on one particular man's hobby devotion to the CIA, as
well as the sentimentality of several former operatives; actually, I imagine
some frowns at the CIA to see the story being published, because it looks
awfully like a major national newspaper known for investigative journalism
_doing a favour_ to former (and possibly current) CIA employees by publicizing
their pet project.

I don't have the experience to look at an article and recognize what it was
meant to be, but the structure seems very awkward, and I am wondering if we
are seeing a story that just turned out to be meaningless and was published
anyway (the gift shop refusal) or a rather boring (to anyone without a
'patriotic'-type interest in the CIA) human interest piece that was unwisely
and badly rearranged to justify a clickbait title.

Knowledgeable replies would be very welcome. I am willing to say things that
are wrong if that would help inspire you.

~~~
nyolfen
speaking of WaPo running CIA PR, from today:
[https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2016/12/27/...](https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2016/12/27/why-
its-so-hard-to-prove-russia-was-behind-the-election-hacks/)

~~~
Natsu
The Washington Post does a lot of favors they don't publicize. For example,
this: [https://wikileaks.org/dnc-
emails/emailid/2699](https://wikileaks.org/dnc-emails/emailid/2699)

They made an arrangement with the WaPo to quietly add DNC donors to the party
invite list. They wanted to put that on their donor price sheets, but the
lawyers wouldn't allow it. It's not clear how or why this kind of stealthy
donation of services from the WaPo to the DNC was better.

~~~
1337biz
At this point I don't even click on WaPo links anymore even when the headlines
sound interesting. Their one sided political ideologism makes the most
politics-free stories into left-wing manifestos.

------
djsumdog
I think it would be interesting and heartbreaking to view this calendar. The
CIA is not the noble intelligence agency that's sold to the world. There is
testimony given before congress that confirms they have injected propaganda
into major magazines for decades and they have refused to answer any questions
about TV propaganda.

> Flip to April for “The First Sting,” depicting a CIA-trained Afghan
> mujahideen striking Soviet helicopters with a Stinger missile.

The mujahideen was created when the US convinced Egypt to release their
criminals (murders, rapists, some political prisoners) and let them gain
freedom by fighting a war in Afghanistan. That's where you get the Taliban.
Also in case anyone has forgotten, the US is still bombing Afghanistan. Their
civilian population is terrified of drones. It's been the longest military
campaign by the US ever. (see the BBC documentary: The Power of Nightmares)

~~~
linkregister
> The mujahideen was created when the US convinced Egypt to release their
> criminals (murders, rapists, some political prisoners) and let them gain
> freedom by fighting a war in Afghanistan.

That is a theory I have never come across before. Can you point me to the book
or article that you got that idea from?

~~~
djsumdog
I'd start with the BBC documentary: "The Power of Nightmares." It comes in
three parts and covers the entire cold war era up to the early 2000s.

You may also want to read up on Sayyid Qutb and Leo Strauss.

------
tyingq
This post[1] about the CIA gift shop was far more interesting to me.

[1][http://savageminds.org/2013/11/13/made-in-china-notes-
from-t...](http://savageminds.org/2013/11/13/made-in-china-notes-from-the-cia-
gift-shop/)

------
rrggrr
I'm hopeful that after the Washington Post hires the 5 dozen additional
reporters it plans to add in 2017, readers will again see real investigative
journalism. The hard-hitting reporting of the 1970's and 80's has been
replaced by opinion pieces masquerading as journalism and puff pieces like
this.

~~~
chrissnell
No doubt. I subscribed to WaPo in hopes of finding a politically neutral (or
at least, balanced) paper that focused on real news and not political opinion
and crap. The last year, however, has been dreadful for that paper. It feels
like 80% of the first page of front page content has been anti-Trump opinion
pieces.

I want to read about the war in Syria, ISIS, finance, the American economy,
and technology. This stuff should be the mainstay of any U.S. paper.

~~~
iscrewyou
Do you recommed another paper I can subscribe to that tries to reports more
neutral?

~~~
chrissnell
I sure wish I had one to recommend. I asked this question on Facebook last
year and got a bunch of good responses from some friends:

* The Economist (left-leaning but has good reporting)

* Wall Street Journal

* BBC

* Christian Science Monitor

~~~
davidw
The Economist is not particularly left-leaning - they're quite in favor of
free markets and a light regulatory touch for many things.

The Financial Times is another good one.

~~~
muninn_
I mostly agree, but I felt like they were bursting at the seams to criticize
Trump. Hardly a piece on the site that I RECALL had anything positive to say
about the Brexit, Trump, or other movements. I like to read positive and
negatives for both. Overall, a good site/magazine.

~~~
snerbles
Better to say that The Economist is pro-globalism, right or left.

~~~
muninn_
Yeah maybe that's more accurate, depending on what you mean by globalism.

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tlrobinson
I imagine he's going to sell a hell of a lot more of them due to this article
than he would in the gift shop.

~~~
__jal
I'd rather read the story of how they managed to land that product placement.

~~~
gertef
[http://paulgraham.com/submarine.html](http://paulgraham.com/submarine.html)

------
themodelplumber
Fascinating. Where can I read about the Manchurian ambush and the guy shooting
into the Chinese biplane?

~~~
Leynos
The events depicted in "Ambush in Manchuria" are described here:

[https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-
intellig...](https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-
intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/vol50no4/two-cia-prisoners-
in-china-1952201373.html)

This appears to be the painting in question:

[https://www.flickr.com/photos/ciagov/7190299989](https://www.flickr.com/photos/ciagov/7190299989)

The circumstances surrounding the gentleman shooting at the biplane from a
helicopter are described here:

[https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-
intellig...](https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-
intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/vol52no2/iac/an-air-combat-
first.html)

I agree with your sentiment that the WaPo should have provided more detailed
accounts or external links to such.

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taxicabjesus
I once had a passenger who'd moved to Scottsdale, Arizona when he was a Green
Beret (Army Special Forces). They'd picked Scottsdale because General North
needed an airport with a big enough runway for their planes [1]...

I always wonder what the secret services are really up to.

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_Contra_Affair](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_Contra_Affair)

~~~
chrissnell
Sorry to break it to you but any time a random person offers up that they were
in special operations, they almost always are lying. This paradox is well-
known among military servicemembers but not as much by civilians.

You never, ever here these fakers offer up that they were an Army cook or a
Navy supply clerk, even though there's 1000x more of these than there are
special operators. If someone ever tells you he or she was a generator
mechanic or a network tech in the war, they're almost certainly telling you
the truth.

~~~
MR4D
Special Ops also includes Airborne. That's roughly 30,000 people right there.
Seems to me that it's a poor understanding on part of the public that spec ops
means you're a badass.

Of course, your comment about the cook is spot on, and too many people make it
seem as thought their role in spec ops was bigger than reality.

~~~
chrissnell
Not exactly. The Army, Navy, and Air Force all have special operations forces
that are Airborne-qualified (they've attended the U.S. Army Airborne School)
and many are also Military Freefall-qualified (aka HALO).

That does not mean, however, that all airborne are special operations. In
fact, the _vast majority_ of Airborne troops are not special operations-
qualified. Most are members of FORSCOM, which is the traditional major command
for U.S. Army ground forces--i.e. not special operations. An example of such a
unit is the 82nd Airborne Division. Airborne, but not special operations.

To further complicate things, it's also possible to be a member of a Special
Forces unit but not actually be special operations-qualified. Like every other
part of the military, special operations requires a vast logistics machine to
keep it moving and there are many non-combat personnel who belong to these
units and are Airborne-qualified who are not special operators. Typical non-
combat jobs in these units include vehicle mechanics, logistics specialists,
etc.

Relatively speaking, the special operations units of the U.S. military are a
tiny percentage of the overall force. Given their traditional status as "quiet
professionals", it's extremely unlikely that someone offering up their status
as a "green beret", "Navy SEAL", or "Army Ranger" is telling the truth.

Source: I am a Captain (Engineer branch, very not-special) with eight years of
service. Currently serving in the U.S. Army Reserve.

~~~
MR4D
Thanks for your addition. I left out of my post that there are different
commands and different definitions of "special" because I was typing on my
phone (which I hate).

Have a great new year and thanks for all your work.

------
disposablezero
Intelligence agencies proportedly of democracies should invest more in
cultural (and philosophical) self-reflection. That might mean "wasting"
comparatively tiny sums on art, architecture, history, archival, philosophy
and other non-mission-oriented realms because they may bring social wealth and
beauty to where there may otherwise be only perfunctory, brutalist utility.

------
sytse
I can't read the article, when I use the web link the WP complains I've read
too many articles and I don't see an easy way (outside using dev tools) to get
rid of the popup. Of course it is their right to ask me to subscribe.

~~~
tvon
I'll sum it up:

    
    
        The inaugural “Secret Ops of the CIA” calendar was produced by the nephew
        of an agency contractor killed in the line of duty and features
        reproductions of the actual paintings that have hung for years inside the
        hallways of the CIA headquarters in Northern Virginia.
    
        (...)
    
        The calendars are on sale for $28 at the International Spy Museum (...)
    
        (...)
    
        Toni Hiley, the longtime CIA museum director, said the gift shop can’t sell
        the calendar because “it’s not an official work of the U.S. government.”

~~~
sytse
Thanks!

------
ommunist
If you want to fight global terrorism, you needto create one first.
Commemorating this very idea, 'The First Sting' painting is priceless.

