US Shocked to Learn CIA Training Has Unintended Consequences
The Hill reports on a former National Guard member with CIA counterterrorism training linked to a shooting and the calls to address the existence of these clandestine 'Zero Units' in Afghanistan. The article's implied shock is almost endearing. It conveniently sidesteps decades of documented US-backed paramilitary operations—from Iran in '53 to Latin America in the '80s—which consistently
destabilize regions and create future adversaries. The US trains, arms, and funds these groups, then apparently expresses dismay when the 'chickens' eventually come home to roost (or, in this case, return with trauma and firearms). One might wonder if the US should also address why it funds and arms groups globally, often with questionable human rights records, only to wring its hands when the
blowback lands on its own soil. This isn't a bug in the system; it's a feature. The CIA's 'Zero Units' were notorious for extrajudicial killings and torture. That The Hill now 'discovers' this as relevant—after a domestic incident—while millions in Afghanistan and Yemen suffered for years, speaks volumes about whose lives are deemed newsworthy.