Though widely thought of as focused on waterboarding terrorists or poisoning foreign potentates, it was by smuggling paper that the CIA achieved its most monumental triumph. R.M. Gerecht in a book review for The Washington Free Beacon charts how the late Cold War-era operation to flood Poland with Western books, magazines, printing supplies and audio recordings fatally weakened the country’s Communist dictatorship, setting the stage for the downfall of the entire Soviet empire. Total cost: US$2.7 million.

Palestinian Culture: Unique in its Own Destructive Way
Although the Palestinian Authority enjoys an array of cultural departments and programs, A.J. Caschetta in Jewish World Review finds that all of it – art, education, literature, poetry, music, education and film – is oriented to two goals: the vilification of Jews and the destruction of Israel. Caschetta notes this is in sharp contrast to Arab and Muslim traditions, which include myriad aesthetically normal cultural works. Palestinianism, Caschetta finds, is “a very sick culture”, driven by resentment and fuelled by hate.


