CIA plotted evil Osama toy to spook Pakistan kids

 

For more than a decade, the CIA deployed drones, satellites, spies, informants and tracking devices to thwart al-Qaida in Pakistan. The spy agency also considered a plan to wage war with toys, a newspaper reported. 

 

Beginning in about 2005, the CIA began secretly developing a custom-made bin Laden action figure, according to people familiar with the project. The face of the figure was painted with a heat-dissolving material, designed to peel off and reveal a red-faced bin Laden who looked like a demon, with piercing green eyes and black facial markings. 

 

The goal of the short-lived project was to spook children and their parents to turn them away from the actual bin Laden. The code-name for the bin Laden figures was "Devil Eyes", the report said. 

 

To create the doll, the CIA turned to one of the best minds in the toy business, toymaker Donald Levine, the former Hasbro executive who was instrumental in the creation of G I Joe toys. 

 

CIA officials approached Levine about the possibility of producing the bin Laden figures and having them sent to Pakistan or Afghanistan. Levine was initially ambivalent about the project but would later throw himself into the work.

 

"The CIA's interest in Levine was twofold: He had an eye for toys and a vast network of contacts in China, where the bin Laden action figures were ultimately manufactured," the daily said. However, CIA, said that the project was discontinued.