• Tunnelvision [they/them]@hexbear.net
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      9 months ago

      I just assume the CIA brings any president paperwork for this kind of stuff and says “sign this or you’re dead.” Like there will never be an American president that doesn’t do this kind of stuff. American foreign policy is inherently hostile by nature.

      • JohnBrownNote [comrade/them, des/pair]@hexbear.net
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        9 months ago

        feel like they screen candidates well enough that they don’t have to threaten them.

        for trump they could be like “hey wanna order some cool guy james bond shit?” and he’d involuntarily get sharpie everywhere

        • Tunnelvision [they/them]@hexbear.net
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          9 months ago

          Exactly, like I’m not defending any presidents, but I’m kinda surprised at some of the comments that make it seem as if the president is coming up with the foreign policy themselves lmfao no. All that stuff is being done by the CIA and more importantly all the CIA adjacent organizations like the NED and others. By the time it gets to the president for signing so much work has been put into it that there is no way it ISNT going to be signed off on. The president is just a stamp to legitimize the appearance of civilian leadership. A good example would be Eisenhower, who directly called out the military industrial complex as a phenomenon and a problem that goes against his own personal beliefs of what is good for America before it really had a chance to take off. Did he try anything to stop it? Nope, still signed whatever they put in front of him.

            • Tunnelvision [they/them]@hexbear.net
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              9 months ago

              Correct, but it’s something he was obviously aware of his entire presidency and he personally felt Americas best interest was not in the hands of the MIC. His personal feelings didn’t matter because he was smart enough to know if he doesn’t sign on the dotted line he’s fucked.

        • Tunnelvision [they/them]@hexbear.net
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          9 months ago

          Somewhat. Like I said in a different comment the different organizations tangent to the CIA are the ones that actually develop foreign policy and strategy. They don’t really need a person who is committed to the cause, they just need someone who isn’t going to tell them no imho.

      • RyanGosling [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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        9 months ago

        This is silly lol. Why would they need to threaten the president? What about the CIA’s agenda do these people disagree on? Perhaps who and when to kill, but ultimately someone will die. Even JFK was still a piece of shit imperialist. He just stepped on the wrong foot trying to do it His Way

        They do bring paperwork to the president though. It’s a kill list, and they get to choose who to kill from that list. They reportedly nudged Trump into selecting high priority targets, but Trump supposedly only checked big name ISIS targets to boost ratings

        • Zuzak [fae/faer, she/her]@hexbear.net
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          9 months ago

          Why would they need to threaten the president? What about the CIA’s agenda do these people disagree on?

          He just stepped on the wrong foot trying to do it His Way

          Kinda answered your own question - it doesn’t have to be an ideological disagreement, even if they just get too uppity about doing things their way, the hammer comes down.

        • Tunnelvision [they/them]@hexbear.net
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          9 months ago

          They really don’t. Presidents are in power for 4-8 years, that’s basically nothing. The entrenched powers in the CIA (read also as the NED, ADL, defense contractors, whatever ngos etc) are the ones that really direct foreign policy and strategy. These are the people actually doing the work. Presidents to my mind are just rubber stamps because by the time it comes to sign the order so much work has been put into it by all these entities that it’s not really an option to not sign it. Obviously the system is not going to pick someone who would refuse to sign it, but the appearance of democracy is still necessary. It’s really only recently that the mask has been slipping a little too much in this regard.

      • hemko@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        9 months ago

        Historically it’s been like “yeah do what you do just don’t tell me what it is you’re doing”

      • GenderIsOpSec [she/her]@hexbear.net
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        9 months ago

        “sign this or you’re dead.

        I remember ages ago watching a documentary about conspiracy theories and one of the people they brought on basically said this, except instead of outright threats they just show a video of Kennedy getting his brain ventilated from a completely unseen angle.

        I mean, jfk-gaming tried to step on the CIA a bit and suddenly his mind was expanded all over the highway edgeworth-shrug