• Sibshops@lemm.eeOP
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    1 month ago

    I probably just misunderstood what you mean by “front”. I read it as something like a feigned appearance. Maybe I’m just having trouble understanding how a something can be both openly avowed (not covert) and yet non-openly avowed (a front) at the same time.

    I agree with USAID being a tool for soft power. So are many things, like Hollywood. Doesn’t mean Hollywood is a CIA operation.

    • swlabr@awful.systems
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      1 month ago

      I probably just misunderstood what you mean by “front”.

      Sure.

      I read it as something like a feigned appearance.

      That would be the long and short of it.

      Maybe I’m just having trouble understanding how a something can be both openly avowed (not covert) and yet non-openly avowed (a front) at the same time.

      Definitely don’t look up these terms, they might be above your reading level:

      • ulterior motives
      • chess for the intermediate player
      • palace intrigue and scheming eunuchs

      I agree with USAID being a tool for soft power.

      Great!

      So are many things, like Hollywood. Doesn’t mean Hollywood is a CIA operation.

      Putting aside the equivocation, that’s a lousy counterexample. Are you just going to pretend like propaganda doesn’t exist?

      • Sibshops@lemm.eeOP
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        1 month ago

        I still don’t get what a non-covert front is. You said USAID is a front for CIA operations and it isn’t covert when it does these operations.

        Like I’m picturing a pizza parlor which is a front for a mafia operation, but instead of being covert, it is open. So it says “Mafia’s Pizza” instead of “Tony’s Pizza”. Are you thinking USAID is something like that?

        Propaganda certainly does exist. I never said that it didn’t. I’m disputing that USAID is a CIA operation and not an independent organization with it’s own goals and directives.

        • swlabr@awful.systems
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          1 month ago

          Well, at this point, you’re just being obtuse.

          I still don’t get what a non-covert front is.

          That’s a term you made up, so that’s a classic “you problem”!

          You said USAID is a front for CIA operations and it isn’t covert when it does these operations. […] Like I’m picturing a pizza parlor which is a front for a mafia operation, but instead of being covert, it is open. So it says “Mafia’s Pizza” instead of “Tony’s Pizza”. Are you thinking USAID is something like that?

          Again, you’re the one coming up with this. Stop thinking. You aren’t good at it.

          Propaganda certainly does exist. I never said that it didn’t.

          Great!

          I’m disputing that USAID is a CIA operation and not an independent organization with it’s own goals and directives.

          Good for you!

          • Sibshops@lemm.eeOP
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            1 month ago

            Honestly, this looks like you don’t have any evidence to show that USAID is a front for the CIA, so you are resorting to ad hominum as a way to save face.

            • swlabr@awful.systems
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              1 month ago

              Hey, buddy, listen. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. Sorry if I hurt your feelings. I love the CIA. And USAID. Really, I do. Please don’t accuse me of ad hominum [sic], that would break my heart. And evidence? Of course, there’s no evidence. The US is a perfect little angel; everything it does is moral and good. It’s just that big old meanie trump making a mess of things, that’s all. Does that make it better?

              • Sibshops@lemm.eeOP
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                1 month ago

                Does that make it better?

                To be honest, not really. Usually when there is a claim it goes, I believe that X is true because of Y reasons. Not what ever this is that you are attempting.