Those of us who are old enough to remember a time when it was OK to laugh at ourselves and not be offended by everything someone says or does, can probably remember the 1974 movie ‘Blazing Saddles,’ a comedy western from producer-director Mel Brooks.
One of the memorable scenes in that movie was when the ‘Mongo’ character, played by former NFL lineman and Hall of Fame member Alex Karas, was terrorizing the town. The ‘sheriff’ character played by actor Cleavon Little delivered a bomb disguised as a Candygram to ‘Mongo,’ which subsequently exploded in his hands. It was a very funny scene of the movie, and was a perfect example of the sheriff ‘thinking outside the box.’
Watching the news of what happened to many of the Iranian Hezbollah terrorists when the personal pagers that had been distributed to a few thousand members of that terror organization exploded, I couldn’t help but laugh uproariously. It reminded me of the ‘Mongo Candygram’ scene. Though I find what happened in Lebanon hilarious, it wasn’t a movie, it was real life in Israel’s ongoing ‘unofficial’ war with the Islamic Republic of Iran, the world’s foremost purveyor of terrorism around the world. So far at least eleven terrorists were killed and several hundred were injured. Some still in serious or critical condition. No one has claimed responsibility for what has happened, and far be it from me to point a finger at the Israeli Mossad, but whomever carried out this operation deserves a standing ovation. It is destined to become known as a ‘classic’ in the annals of the intelligence business.
As is often said but rarely done in our own intelligence agencies, this operation was a perfect example of ‘thinking outside the box.’ Something Israel has had to do repeatedly to defend itself in the very volatile Middle East. A region that was becoming less volatile under the presidency of Donald Trump who negotiated the Abraham Accords offering a new opportunity for real peace.
There was a time when our own CIA was once considered the world’s premiere intelligence agency. An agency that also used to think outside the box. Not always successfully, but you don’t sit on your hands and do nothing out of fear of screwing up. Did the CIA ever screw up and do some stupid things? Absolutely. The Church and Pike Committees of the ‘70s certainly uncovered and reported on examples of the stupid, even in certain cases criminal activities that ‘some’ (a very small number among the thousands and thousands of dedicated Agency employees) did back in the ‘60s and ‘70s during the height of the Cold War. There have also been times when the ‘senior leadership’ has involved themselves in American politics instead of remaining neutral and apolitical. As has happened in recent years, which is certainly unconscionable. The CIA’s job is to provide quality intelligence to help our senior decision makers formulate their plans to protect America, regardless of who is in office. The CIA doesn’t do that by getting involved in politics.
But while hanging out the CIA’s dirty laundry for all the world to see during their committee hearings, what the Pike and Church Committees did not report on were the countless intelligence successes the Agency has had since their inception in 1947. People will never know about them. If they did then so would our enemies, and those operations, the millions and billions of dollars spent would be wasted. Not to mention lives would be put at risk. And those successful operations would no longer be successes. Lives indeed are at stake which is why the CIA has to operate in the shadows. CIA Headquarters has a number of black stars etched into a lobby wall honoring those Agency employees who made the ultimate sacrifice serving this country. A number of them remain anonymous even in death.
Obviously there are some who will never give the CIA credit for anything, which is just a fact of life for the Agency, putting up with false allegations and being blamed for everything bad that ever happens. Social media is replete with claims of CIA involvement in one conspiracy after the next, citing some unheard of source for the information. Much of the time nothing more than a ‘wanna-be’ who hangs up a social media shingle or starts a podcast, and who is really nothing more than a purveyor of their own opinion.
But thankfully there are still American patriots who will step forward to serve this nation in anonymity. They never receive the medals, the public accolades, nor the ticker-tape parades that others who serve this country do. They accept that and go into work every day doing what they do defending the United States.
My guess is that we will never know for certain who came up with the brilliant idea to deliver a ‘Candygram’ to Hezbollah. There certainly will be suspicions, but unlike here in America, other nations have the common sense to keep their mouths shut and to keep them guessing. (Anyone remember Stuxnet back in 2010)?
Hopefully the time will come when the Agency will again attract more of America’s best and brightest who are unafraid to take risks, who can think outside the box, and who will serve the president regardless of politics. Our nation’s leaders need the best possible intelligence information to help them make the critical decisions that affect the lives of all Americans, and protect our freedoms in this very dangerous world.