Happy Thanksgiving

If you think about it, Thanksgiving can be a lot like global politics. People pretend to like eachother in front of relatives, while looking for opportunities to make some passive aggressive comments and figuring out how far they can push their hosts. This doesnt apply to everyone, but I'm sure there is at least one in each gathering!

It seems that our old friend Blackwater (or Xe, as they like to be known as now), is at work for Uncle Sam again. VIP protection must have become boring, so now Blackwater is performing special ops missions alongside the CIA and the Special Ops Command. Those operations now include missions in Pakistan.

"The source, who has worked on covert US military programs for years, including in Afghanistan and Pakistan, has direct knowledge of Blackwater's involvement. The source said that the program is so "compartmentalized" that senior figures within the Obama administration and the US military chain of command may not be aware of its existence."

At the very least, they are conducting snatch missions and intelligence gathering (in a country we are not at war with). However, there have been persistent rumors of "false flag" operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and even Iran - acts of terrorism conducted by groups loyal to, or at least paid by, the US Govt.

Here's a gift idea for the person who has everything - The Official CIA Manual of Trickery and Deception
The Boston Globe has an interesting article on the book here

Which ex-president does this remind you of?