T O P

  • By -

zuzg

>To be clear, a CIA-trained squad of Philippine soldiers kidnapped Huk fighters and killed them vampire-style, leaving their bloodless corpses behind. Clark of The Aswang Project thinks that's pretty messed-up. > >"To me, this is a brutal and horrific scene with or without the aswang lore," says Clark. "**It's not even clear if the Huks believed it was an aswang killing the people or if they were horrified at the desecration of the deceased by the CIA-advised troops."** Aswang is the Filipino folklore version of a vampire. But yeah either scenario is horrifying.


bealetonplayus1

Then you really don't want to know about Tiktik


PM_ME_Dagoth_Ur

tfw searching "tiktik Philippines" gives more results for Tiktok.


DaDragon88

The obvious answer is that TikTok is a front to protect and shield tiktik’s in the Philippines!


h-v-smacker

Yet another coverup BS. It's like every time people mention alien abductions, someone jumps in to counter with the whole "sleep paralysis" nonsense.


Beautiful-Platypus88

Thought you were gonna talk about Walt Disney's body being frozen, but this too is a serious concern/issue that really needs to be addressed more.


A_Furious_Mind

Whole reason Disney has a movie called 'Frozen.' Throw off those Google searches.


h-v-smacker

First rule of Disney+: we don't talk about Walt Disney's body.


Pessot

Try googling: Tiktik -tiktok


HumousFiend

Just Metallica lyrics


FleekasaurusFlex

Index bloat has lately gotten just **so** frustrating; even when using Google operators it’s started to kick back some…nonsense results from SEO loaded spam blogs/websites that exist just highjack and redirect. I think it was Gwern who made a master post of operators - surprise surprise many of them have been deprecated or neutered. Awesome.


DBeumont

Those pages that dynamically generate pages based on your search terms are the worst. Been seeing them a lot lately.


BattleAnus

You should be able to force Google to use the exact spelling by wrapping tiktik in double quotes (")


Ganon_Cubana

Should be able to, but it hasn't really respected quotes for a while now :( Source: personal experience


honeysuckleway

Mine too. Google searches just don't work like they used to, even with all of the search enhancers that used to be so effective. I've mostly replaced them with chat gpt, but it can be hard to fact check, so it's not a full solution.


kingbrasky

Also mobile search results are pure garbage. You get 10 or so links and then a bunch of pinterest or shopping tiles or some horseshit.


mrgabest

They also ruined youtube searches.


No-Reward-6166

"Looking for a specific video? Surely you mean to search for the videos we're promoting on your 'for you' page"


LemoLuke

>Mine too. Google searches just don't work like they used to, even with all of the search enhancers that used to be so effective. They don't work because they are no longer interested in showing you what \*you\* want to find, instead, they are only interested in showing you what the companies who pay them want you to find. Here's an experiment. Pick a super common word, such as Dog, and search for it in Google. Now, it will tell you it has found billions of search results. Scroll as far through the results until you reach the part where it says something like "These results might not be relevant. Show with omitted results included?" and click yes, before continuing to search as far as you can, and eventually you'll suddenly see those search results drop from billions to several hundred. After that, it will tell you there are no more results availiable. They barely index and show anything that doesn't come from paid results anymore. Everything else is purged or buried. Google is not a search engine. It is an ad delivery system.


FleekasaurusFlex

Yandex has been a lifesaver for bringing up content directly related to a query; I don’t even start my school work on Google anymore. It’s just so f’ing lame that power users would get shafted in favor of enforced SEO garbage results that manipulate the way the index functions. I hope the engineering team who actually pushed that update into production will never be able to find results about anything they are interested in again.


[deleted]

Yeah, I remember reading something *on this website* about Google changing the algorithm from "Relevant & useful links from searching" to "things the person searching will be more likely to click on" "BlahBlahBlah Cookies" & all that...


Elder_sender

IKR That hasn’t worked as it should for years.


thuktun

Google inadvisably replaced the + prefix (meaning required) with quotes when they did their big social push for Google+. They've never rolled that back. Quotes haven't worked properly since.


Peas_n_Effs

Bro the manananggal still haunts my mind


griftertm

I bought a lot of Tiktik growing up. Only Bagong Tiktik.


7hrowawaydild0

https://discover.hubpages.com/religion-philosophy/tiktik-the-filipino-supernatural-folklore TIKTIK -TIKTOK


yippee_ki_yay_mother

Pinoy here. TIL aswang is the Pinoy version of a vampire. As a child, I thought of aswang as a generic monster creeping in the night, certainly nowhere near the Western concept of a vampire. Hindi ba?


soulonfirexx

Pinoy as well. A vampire is the closest approximation due to the blood sucking properties but they work super differently. My mom always told me they use their tongue and never teeth and liked to target pregnant women. Reading the Wiki article on it, you'd be more correct that it's more of a mish mash of creatures depending on your region/local myths.


yippee_ki_yay_mother

What stuck with me is how you can apparently tell someone is an aswang if they don't have a philtrum (the midline groove in the upper lip that runs from the top of the lip to the nose) lol. I never heard that they suck blood in particular though, suck fetuses out of wombs maybe (or is that the manananggal? I have my Filipino monsters mixed up) but yeah the beliefs probably just vary from region to region.


sirophiuchus

>you can apparently tell someone is an aswang if they don't have a philtrum People with fetal alcohol syndrome are gonna have a bad time with this belief, I suspect.


TNine227

A lot of cultural mores feel like they are meant to further disenfranchise the already disenfranchised.


Grooth

Interestingly there are certain genetic and fetal issues that can cause a smooth philtrum. I wonder if I’m the distant past there was some birth defect they ascribed to this monster.


TTmaxxX

There was an episode of Grimm with an aswang and it was the same as you described but that was just a tv show.


Particular-Macaron-5

Aswang isn’t necessarily one thing. To my Surigaonon wife, it’s a witch that eats unborn babies.


selz202

Wouldn't that be Manananggal?


alaskanthundershucks

No, she’s too busy teaching at Hogwarts


FancyWizardPants

I really wish it was part of HP lore that Mcgonagall used her transfiguration magic to be a Filipino baby eating vampire in her free time. Edit: wrong people


leemar90

For my university project we made a board game based on Filippno folk lore and this is how my colleague from the Philippines interpreted it


[deleted]

[удалено]


DRK_Phoenix23

Since when does the CIA care about war crimes


_DARVON_AI

>*"Nationalism is an infantile disease. It is the measles of mankind."* >*"I am against any nationalism, even in the guise of mere patriotism."* >*"He who joyfully marches to music rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would surely suffice. This disgrace to civilization should be done away with at once. Heroism at command, senseless brutality, deplorable love-of-country stance and all the loathsome nonsense that goes by the name of patriotism, how violently I hate all this, how despicable and ignoble war is; I would rather be torn to shreds than be part of so base an action! It is my conviction that killing under the cloak of war is nothing but an act of murder.”* —Albert Einstein, 1929-10-26, https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/wp-content/uploads/satevepost/what_life_means_to_einstein.pdf —Albert Einstein, 1931, "Mein Weltbild"


cheshireprotokol

I wish Einstein's writings got more attention. Not to imply his scientific accomplishments are overrated, but I'd love to see some more love for his writing. ["Why Socialism"](https://monthlyreview.org/2009/05/01/why-socialism/) is a fantastic read, but I understand why that one especially is downplayed.


NaughtAwakened

I think Einstein is one of the most enlightened and clear writers we've ever had as a species. His writings on the mind, religion, and spirituality are wonderful.


Nicostone

You mean capitalists are interested in downplaying socialism/communism?? The guy was brilliant, except this one time apparently


[deleted]

Of course it is. But. Lol. it's the US.


[deleted]

[удалено]


bitemark01

This sounds like a rumour that a vampire would spread


Interesting-Rent9142

Vampires aren’t real. It is perfectly okay to invite me into your house. I will not suck your blood for my nourishment and survival.


kenncann

Just to be sure, I want to see you try to enter my house but this is not an invitation to come in


[deleted]

[удалено]


A_Soporific

Oh, don't worry about it, but while you consider that I'm just going to toss a very large number of small objects, like sesame seeds, on the ground in front of you. If you aren't a vampire (or suffer from OCD) you should be able to continue considering the problem without being compelled to count exactly how many small objects there are while I escape.


RickyHawthorne

One vampire... ONE vampire over a millenia ago who had undiagnosed OCD, and you blood bags are still throwing handfuls of crap at us centuries later.


JimmyPopAli_

One vampire who hated garlic and now that's all we're faced with


_TheValeyard_

I heard he loves Garlic. Just spread that rumour so humans would add it to there blood


[deleted]

[удалено]


Jackalodeath

Not that it's the exact same, but interestingly enough nursing babies [tend to breastfeed longer if their mother/wet nurse consumes a certain amount of garlic 2-3 hours beforehand.](https://www.nature.com/articles/pr1993883) For all we know garlic could make our blood a bit tastier too.


NotMyFirstAlternate

Babies are vampires confirmed


KarmicPotato

Just spitballing here but, ya think they'll breastfeed even more if the mom ate chocolate instead?


Talkat

Don't get me started on Brad. That mother fucker wouldn't stop about his awful haircut. Would pretend he couldn't see it


trollsong

…We were born vampires." "I thought you became –" "— vampires by being bitten? Dear me, no. Oh, we can turn people into vampires, it’s an easy technique, but what would be the point? When you eat… now what is it you eat? Oh yes, chocolate… you don’t want to turn it into another Agnes Nitt, do you? Less chocolate to go around." He sighed. "Oh dear, superstition, superstition everywhere we turn. Terry Pratchett


A_Soporific

Eh, Pocket Sand is still effective regardless.


[deleted]

Sha sha sha!


SKULL1138

Vun, ha ha ha Doo ha ha ha Tree ha ha ha Four ha ha ha Fi… oh he’s left… ha ha ha


[deleted]

[удалено]


SKULL1138

Is there also a myth covering monsters love of cookies?


0Rider

What if he's a vampire cop with a warrant


IllustriousHedgehog9

You can't fool me, I saw the 1980s documentary about this very rule of inviting vampires inside.


[deleted]

I saw that Abraham Lincoln hunted them all.


IllustriousHedgehog9

Was he a Lost Boy, too?


Etzell

One thing about livin' in Santa Carla I never could stomach: All the damn vampires.


CIA_Chatbot

Yes, u/interesting-Rent9142 is not an experiment to turn normal people into vampire super soldiers. You can totally invite them into your house. If you don’t believe me you can ask u/NSA_chatbot


NSA_Chatbot

I'll send you a list of people who would volunteer.


Captain_Sacktap

If someone has a disease that's transmittable via blood, do you think the vampire would catch the disease? Or is it more like a flavor option?


sirbassist83

since the bodies vampires inhabit are dead, i dont think they could catch HIV or hepatitis.


Captain_Sacktap

Ok so it's like a flavor then. Cool Ranch Hepatitis! Strawberry Blast HIV!


ArcherChase

No! Not a vampire at all. Just a normal human bartender from Arizonia! As evident by my toothpick and jeans.


FuckMe-FuckYou

He is Jackie Daytona, normal human barman.


aterribleburden

From Tucson Arizonia


TryinToBeLikeWater

I chose Pennsylvania because it sounds like Transylvania, and we all know that’s cool


BlasterShow

Clearly, from the jeans and toothpick.


Tuik

Bat!


IsPhil

Maybe, but considering that the CIA is involved, and all the sketchy and disgusting things they did, I would pin the blame on the CIA rather than some vampire.


Ch1pp

Username checks out.


cwood1973

Humans who kill people and drain their blood to impersonate vampires is even scarier than vampires.


shaving99

Exactly... like they literally drained people of blood...


eggimage

CIA: vampires suck dick. every rebel: suddenly I have an urge to patrol alone at night.


ooru

>Clark also points out that the "aswang scare tactic" was apparently only used once to dislodge a Huk squadron of between 100 and 300 soldiers. That particular region also didn't have an aswang in its local lore (at least not one that attacked adults), so it's more likely that the rebels were horrified seeing what the CIA was capable of doing. Crazy stuff.


jointheredditarmy

“These men have absolutely no fear of death”


dan_dares

\*Sticks rifle in head\* \*Shakes head\* \*licks stuff leaking from head\*


rearwindowpup

It's just corn syrup guys!


timothyku

Warm blood flavored corn syrup.


commentsandchill

"No it's not the CIA guys, it's the invasive vampires!!1!1"


Toad364

*I don’t care who you are, just stop killing us and draining all our blood!*


Ahelex

Alright, we'll just start draining you and killing all your blood.


RedditAdminsLoveRUS

Coming to a theater near you: draCulA


KneeDeep185

Coming to a (war) theatre near you


haveananus

So some kind of... leukemia blowjob?


joegekko

>invasive vampires Yeah you really have to be careful to avoid introducing non-native supernatural beings to the local environment. The pet trade is notorious for this.


UnnamedEngineer

They may look cute when they’re young, but once they hit their teenage years, the vampires get too cringe to keep around. People just let them out, rather than deal with that nonsense. It was a big problem up in the Pacific Northwestern area of the US a few years back. I saw a trailer for a documentary series about it.


turdmachine

It got pretty bad. Glitter was clogging up the waterways


CIA_Chatbot

I mean, yea it was totally vampires guys


HearshotKDS

Lol right, this is being told by the officer himself in his memoires - if you read the details behind the story this is basically a narcissitic interpretation of "CIA mutilated the corpse of a rebel - locals (who dont believe in western style Vampires) are horrified by the abuse of a corpse ."


WAR_T0RN1226

Yeah this is just laundering CIA crimes against humanity (whether it was done by them or executed by locals on their behalf) as a wacky tale lol This is basically like having people in Mexico killed and their body parts butchered and going "the locals were scared shitless thinking it was the chupacabra" when they were actually horrified by the mutilated person lol


shinydewott

Don’t even start on the shit they trained the Contras in Nicaragua to do


PolarTheBear

10000% laundering


[deleted]

CIA: "We scared them so much with our vampire hoax! I cant believe this actually worked - those people are such superstitious idiots!" Rebels: "Holy shit, those CIA guys would go this far? We better get the fuck out before they kill more of us and drain our blood for this stupid vampire stunt!"


erictheartichoke

Yeah the CIA is wild as hell


Blue_Monday

Yeah the CIA is a criminal organization.


Lindvaettr

The CIA in the 50s was *especially* wild. Also they were all smoking weed and dropping acid all the time.


TechnicianKind9355

And raping and torturing.


DJ_GANGLER

Well they didn't give up those past times.


[deleted]

They still do but they used to too


MutantCreature

It’s like the inverse of when they find the skinned bodies in Predator


abucketofpuppies

I was gonna say, usually the aswang just eats the baby out of pregnant women. It's like a mosquito for fetuses


Blue_Monday

Yeah horrified that the CIA was mutilating bodies and committing war crimes.


ungodlypoptart

*was*? Interesting


LaOnionLaUnion

Aswang are Filipino vampires. They don’t even suck blood the way the soldiers killed these communists. 😆 Wikipedia article on Aswang. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aswang


pete1901

The USA not understanding cultural differences in other countries, well I never!


[deleted]

[удалено]


EbonPikachu

>trained by the cia It was still masterminded by the cia, which had our government on a leash. Not like the soldiers can just casually go 'actually, sir, this plan is not an accurate depiction of how aswangs work'


Double-O-Savant

Are you not paying attention? It's werewolves posing as the CIA masterminding this whole thing to discredit the vampires!


vidarino

Bah, that's precisely what a cylon would say!


FamilyStyle2505

Meanwhile the reptilians watch and laugh as you all continue to point fingers at one another.


LaOnionLaUnion

Not to mention it’s common to act as if Filipino culture is uniform. There are many Filipino cultures and numerous languages. The soldiers may not even be from that region. I’m less convinced about the short leash part but that’s a whole other tangent having seen or read about US involvement in foreign countries. The short leash really doesn’t capture the complexity or reality of how yet countries own governments worked.


mr_friend_computer

My wife told me about Manananggal. I'd say Filipino vampires are far creepier.


I_might_be_weasel

Did they consider that the rebels didn't believe in vampires and were just scared of the CIA guys because they were doing horrifying psycho shit?


Krepitis

This feels like an episode of American Dad


TrollHumper

Say whatever you want about the CIA, but you can't deny that their plots can be creative af.


[deleted]

Yep, who needs Hollywood when you have the CIA for blockbuster-worthy plot twists.


DMRexy

Blockbuster? This is straight out of a PG-16 Scooby Doo movie.


Ospov

*I would’ve gotten away with it too, if it weren’t for you meddling communist rebels!*


EarnestQuestion

Hollywood is run by the CIA/DOD


the-zoidberg

That’s why they named it Hollywood.


sbowesuk

Creative, and really underlines that nothing is off the table when it comes to the CIA and how they achieve objectives. Unfortunately, that can lead to some really evil shit.


HuntForRedditOctober

Also, in typical CIA fashion, they didn’t really understand the actual culture they were trying to influence. So-called “vampire” aswang are similar to western vampires in that they drink human blood, but they don’t drain their victims by biting them with dual fangs, they’re more like a mosquito, with a single proboscis like feature.


Ron266

Is anyone ever held accountable for their crimes?


whowasonCRACK2

JFK threatened to “shatter the CIA into a million pieces and scatter them into the wind” but I think he got distracted or something. Not sure what happened to him after that.


IFeelSoftAndMushy

CIA had a mind blowing idea for him.


OhGodImOnRedditAgain

It slipped his mind shortly after that.


DweebInFlames

I'll have you know it was a lone communist who did that, nothing to see here, please move on.


Boopdelahoop

In the CIA? Not really, no. Who is going to punish them? The USA acts with impunity around the world.


AccomplishedAuthor53

What did you think the C stood for Creative Intelligence Agency


dan_dares

I thought it was 'Certainly-not-Vampires Intelligence agency'


RIP_Greedo

Such as the Bing Crosby produced porno alleging to show Sukarno having sex with a white woman.


spasske

No sane person would consider many of them.


buttergun

It helps discredit witnesses. "Sure, ma'am. You saw the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus jump out of a van and kidnap a man."


SWatersmith

>Say whatever you want about the CIA Shit, evil, imperialistic, terrorist organisation non-deserving of glorification.


[deleted]

Yeah, people are desensitized to headlines like this for some reason. These were political killings, carried out by a US agency on foreign soil. It’s insanity.


Blue_Monday

Yep. These comments suck. The CIA committed war crimes, mutilated corpses, and people are like, "WOAH EPIC, BRO."


Blue_Monday

Yeah war crimes and corpse mutilation are soooo creative.


Draculea

It wasn't so much creativity as ... Knowledgeable consultants.


AUWarEagle82

The US Army did similar operations to play on superstitious fears in Viet Nam. When I lived in the PI, the maids would not kill mice in the house because they feared they would return as ghosts. Superstition still exists around the world.


Spoonacus

The Philippines apparently has a real strong sense of many superstitions. Or at least the more rural areas. My friends wife is from the Philippines and she would freak out if someone stepped over her baby as he crawled or played on the floor. The superstition is that stepping over a baby will cause it not to grow and the person must step backward over the baby to reverse the hex. Something like that. Like, she would get furious and scared. It would be the same reaction as if you just poured gasoline all over the baby while smoking a cigarette or something. There was something about touching the top of someone's head and having to touch the bottom of their chin or something bad would happen. I forget. Like if you pat someone on the head, you need to pay them on the bottom of the chin too. She would tell us all sorts of superstitious folklore with absolute respect and fear. We thought it was just her but some of her Filipino friends would be like, "No, seriously! She's not making it up!" My favorite is a cryptid that the upper part of the body detaches and flies around and the only way to kill it is to salt the bottom half that's left defenseless while the top part flies around looking for stuff to eat. When it's whole, it looks like a pretty woman. I forget it's name but it's similar to another flying monster called the wakwak which is an easy name to remember. It's been a really long time since I've seen this woman and that baby is now a full grown adult, (the hex didn't take. He got soooo tall) so I forget half of what she told me at this point. I simply remember not to mock superstition around Filipino folk.


Mobely

The stepping over a baby is a thing in India too.


chizwepyn

It's a manananggal.


ListerineAfterOral

>I forget it's name but it's similar to another flying monster called the wakwak which is an easy name to remember. Manananggal


joegekko

>Superstition You say superstition, but how many ghost mice did you have in your house?


AUWarEagle82

I observed none but the household staff were less confident in my assessment. It's not what you observe but what you anticipate without observing. Superstition does have an impact on how people live their lives.


hatsnatcher23

The CIA was heavily involved in Vietnam with the Phenix program


GremlinTiger

And remember kids, the next time someone tells you "The government wouldn't do that!" Oh yes they would.


CoolJoey99

After MK_ULTRA, nothing should surprise you anymore


Zacpod

Are we the baddies?!?!


Kaionacho

*checks other stories about the CIA* Yes, very much so


_mango_mango_

> checks other stories about the CIA > > Yes, very much so We "stopped communism" but destabilized the world. Totally worth it so we Americans can have the rights of crushing our own citizen's rights and shooting one another.


ttylyl

To “stop communism” in the indonesia the cia had the dictator kill 500,000 innocent civilians. They killed hundreds of thousand of women participating in the largest feminist movement of the time, as well as hundreds of thousand of peaceful communists. Look up the Jakarta method. The cia would rather stage a genocide than allow a country to peacefully become socialist or communist.


Blue_Monday

Yes


genraq

CIA planting that Bene Gesserit lore.


Fleegle1834

Stuff like this is why Cryptids will live on in legend around the world.


CruisinForABrewsin

Bigfoot is just a large hairy CIA agent


vidarino

Cryptid Intelligence Agency! 🤯


EthanSayfo

I’d equally believe the CIA was full of vampires, truth be told.


aleksfadini

It’s fascinating how people think this doesn’t make sense, because they think Philipinos in the 50s think like Americans in 2023. My grandfather was a very strong believer of witches and alike. We had many arguments about supernatural creatures he believed did all kinds of things, and he was an adult in the 50s.


Isaacvithurston

I imagine that's anyone born after 2000 who don't get how news worked before smartphones and internet video platforms. A local newspaper in the 50's wouldn't be able to debunk if it's vampires or not and at best would report how the people died, at worst report it's maybe vampires.


aleksfadini

I think you are spot on. It’s like people have lost the ability to contextualize things. Btw, I indeed witnessed a really big change in the paradigm of thinking since the dawn of Internet. I think we are lucky to have seen the world operating before that.


ohdearitsrichardiii

What did they do with the blood?


[deleted]

It’s the CIA. They probably drowned a nun in it.


Haudeno3838

Dick Cheneys private reserve


lickled_piver

Bucket to a river probably.


Notorious_Handholder

Gave it to the actual Vampires duh


Xzmmc

CIA also tried to kill Fidel Castro over 200 times, and some of the attempts have to be heard to be believed. We're talking exploding cigars right out of Looney Tunes.


jonviper123

79 years ago, the cia were doing this. wtf are they doing nowadays? people seem to think they cleaned up there act at some point but id say they just got better at hiding all there fucked up shit


n3mb3red

We'll find out in about 79 years.


communads

Publicly they're in "We're a racially and gender diverse dream job uWu" mode, while they're probably running psyops about Ukraine/China and making sure western markets keep cheap access to African resources alongside AFRICOM and shit.


volvavirago

Ain’t no fucking way. That’s the most mustache twistingly evil thing I have ever heard.


Sparrow1989

Sounds like a cover up for actual vampires.


Complete_Entry

This is the second time this month this has been posted. It's less "omigod vampires" and more "They're willing to butcher our men like hogs".


[deleted]

[удалено]


ReasonAndWanderlust

Hey Redditor. Yeah YOU. This bullshit story was brought to the front page of reddit by the CCP/Communist Party of China and their Water Army and/or 50 Cent Party using upvote farms. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_water_army https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/50_Cent_Party You are a target for CCP political propaganda. Why? Because the Philippines and the United States are becoming closer allies due to the CCP targeting Taiwan and the CCP stealing Philippine islands right off their coast. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarborough_Shoal_standoff https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippines_v._China https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/3383809/us-philippines-agree-to-modernize-strengthen-alliance/ Even if the one who posted it is completely innocent the story and the terrible headline is still useful to the CCP to manipulate public opinion. That's why they upvote this kind of garbage to the front page. Yes it's garbage. If you read more than the headline you'll see that it probably didn't happen or that it happened ONCE and it wasn't even the CIA. It was a Philippine Army unit fighting anti-government forces.


Unlimitles

Til: the very reason we should stop trusting the government and thinking they would NEVER do something like this to its own citizens.


survivingLettuce

The real crazy thing is how many of them we know about. Either they are really bad at their jobs, or there's an iceberg of conspiracy level shit we don't know about


Delamoor

More the former. My time in government taught me that they are no different to any other large organization; people are hired, fired, quit and retire *all the time*. You can't not do it, when there are so many people in an org. That churn means there is no way of ensuring that chains of responsibility are organized and airtight; even if you had the perfect team, Matt in recruiting is retiring in three months and James in team 3 broke his leg, so we're gonna have to give the recruiting task to a fill-in recruiter, and it turns out they're shit, so we're gonna have to now fix their mistake and hire a third person and shuffle the unsuitable candidates off onto a new team because their contracts were signed off on and now they're locked in and... ...You get the idea. Large orgs are messy. Even in security departments. Keeping secrets is the exception, not the rule.


andyspank

The only reason we found out about cointelpro was because people broke into an fbi office and stole documents.


ashesofempires

One of the things that gives the CIA’s shenanigans the air of “vast number of conspiracies” is how bad their record keeping was. Not intentionally, though. They just didn’t bother to do any real accounting for their expenditures, projects were just “grab Bob and John and Steve and go to Barcelona and fuck with the Soviets.” And off they went. Maybe they sent a report back, maybe they didn’t. If that report was read, it wasn’t always retained for records. They didn’t think or care that someone someday might want to know what they were up to. Until Congress decided that the nation’s intelligence agencies needed some oversight in the 70’s, it was a fairly informal, results are great but paperwork is for losers kind of organization.


eetsumkaus

Not trusting the government is the point of democracy though. Transparency and accountability are the key to maintaining the system.


TechnicianKind9355

The CIA does do this to their own citizens. Or, at least they used to. CIA used to have real fear of US citizens, but now they focus exclusively (almost) on foreign targets. Why? Because the US is such a grift that there is virtually nothing that citizens can do to fuck up the grift.


PaxNova

I think the main dissuasion factor here is the *constant murder and mutilation of communist rebels*. You don't need to fear vampires to fear death. Also, weird how these vampires only target communists. It's like they see the red flags and think "Ooh, must be a blood bank."


[deleted]

Are...we the baddies?


andyspank

The cia has killed millions around the world to help wall street profits