The CIA supported the Sicilian Mafia during the Cold War

Evidence

The reason the United States has supported authoritarian regimes for so long is not difficult to discern. In its Cold War confrontation with the Soviet Union, the United States did everything in its power to establish alliances with governments that both supported its battle against communism and provided vital access to oil and energy reserves. Many of these governments were autocratic, but this mattered little when the stakes were so high. — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 298 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

The Truman and Eisenhower administrations therefore claimed to support anticolonial national liberation movements; concretely, they announced their intention to aid developing nations by supporting projects that would build infrastructure and foster economic growth. But this economic aid came at a price—they demanded political allegiance. For instance, the United States first sought to bring Gamal Abdel Nasser’s Egypt under its wing through promises of financial aid. Nasser flirted with the Soviet Union, though, and the Eisenhower administration punished him by reneging on its promise to provide funding for the construction of a dam in Aswan. Nasser promptly nationalized the Suez Canal, which led Britain, France, and Israel to launch a war on Egypt. The United States (and the USSR) then intervened on Nasser’s side, allowing Egypt to finally get rid of its former colonial master—Britain. This example reveals the carrot-and-stick approach that the American elite employed again and again during the Cold War: using monetary incentives to win allies, punishing them when they strayed, but also acting to weaken the hold of former colonizer nations when possible. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 143 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Cold War and oil interests drove US support for autocratic allies — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 298; US Cold War aid coerced political allegiance through carrot-and-stick incentives. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 143

Related

• Cold War and oil interests drove US support for autocratic allies (similarity 0.91)
• US Cold War aid coerced political allegiance through carrot-and-stick incentives. (similarity 0.90)
• US Cold War aid demanded political allegiance and punished defectors (similarity 0.88)
• US Cold War aid demanded political allegiance as the price of economic help (similarity 0.87)
• Foreign aid is inherently political because it lacks the profit motive (similarity 0.84)
• The UN reimposed fascist rule on southern Somalia, warning Somalis about Cold War priorities (similarity 0.82)
• US funds and arms its dictatorial allies to block domestic challenges (similarity 0.82)
• US officials welcomed Saudi Islamicization as a Cold War counterweight to Nasser (similarity 0.80)
• The CIA deliberately cultivated Islamist groups as Cold War counterweights to Nasserism (similarity 0.80)
• Pakistan’s Cold War clienthood aligned it against Third World anti-imperial sentiment (similarity 0.79)
• Eisenhower’s doctrine secretly armed Islamist groups against secular nationalists. (similarity 0.79)
• The US alternately armed and opposed Islamist forces to preserve its regional domination. (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Cold War and oil interests drove US support for autocratic allies #corroborates (0.50) — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 298
• US Cold War aid coerced political allegiance through carrot-and-stick incentives. #corroborates (0.40) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 143