Monday, December 29, 2008

Where 'the boys' are ...

We know the DoD experimented with drugs to de-militarize enemy soldiers by fiddling with their sexual drives, but apparently, violent, prolonged, nation-building exercises require sexual-dominance, of a sort (via FoxNews, December 29th, Brit Hume):

Tactical Change

The CIA has found a new tool in the War on Terror after it encountered a problem in rewarding those who help in the fight against terrorists in Afghanistan. The CIA had been giving cash and weapons to those who helped, but that was causing problems.

Speaking on condition of anonymity to The Washington Post, one agent said, "If you give an asset $1,000, he'll go out and buy the shiniest junk he can find and it will be apparent that he has suddenly come into a lot of money" — which sometimes got them killed.

So the CIA did something — well, less obvious: It gave tribal elders Viagra. The Post quotes one agent who says, "Whatever it takes to make friends and influence people — whether it's building a school or handing out Viagra."

Officials say Viagra is not given to younger leaders, but aging village patriarchs are easily sold on a pill that can "put them back in an authoritative position."