XBoxBoy: I don’t wholeheartedly support US covert ops without reservation. Pragmatically speaking, it sometimes comes down to a choice between us and them. As I have opined before, it is rarely a choice of good versus bad; often, it is between bad and worse.
Unfortunately, that has put us in bed with some poor choices as far as partners or allies go. As you say, such is life.
I know that we have often bungled when it comes to covert ops and CIA involvement in foreign affairs. When I was down south during my days there, I had quite a few WTF-type moments. Between Noreiga and the Duartes and the Contras, we weren’t exactly playing with people that you could sell as pro-democracy/pro-freedom. We played with the hand we were dealt, and the opposing choices were far worse (imho).
I was told by an old hand who had been through Vietnam, and the days of the Shah, and had pretty much seen and done it all, that the biggest mistake you could make was to “give a shit about the indigs (indigenous people in the region)”. Pretty terrible sentiment, but an unfortunate fact given the circumstances.
