Discrediting foreign dictators with fake rumors is a noble tradition among covert operatives — consider the Cold War–era plan to distribute doctored photos of a fat Fidel Castro — but a recently revealed CIA proposal involving Saddam Hussein is sparking debate. A former official told The Washington Post the CIA planned to "flood Iraq" in 2003 with a grainy video purporting to show the Iraqi dictator having sex with a teenage boy. Is "strategically" suggesting that a dictator is homosexual just a form of gay-bashing?
As we learned from Abu Ghraib, such tactics backfire: Such a video would do little but expose the "homophobic Western military culture that breeds such attitudes," says Daniel Villareal at Queerty. The "gay antics" in which our soldiers forced Abu Ghraib prisoners to participate did nothing but turn the rest of the world against America for "acting like homophobic fratboys."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
India elections start amid violence, hate speech accusationsTalking Points Narendra Modi seeks a third term while critics worry about the future of the country's democracy
-
'Biden is smart to keep the border-security pressure on'Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Bird flu worries mount as virus found in milk, cowsSpeed Read The FDA found traces of the virus in pasteurized grocery store milk
