Bidding has opened on a curious artifact of the GWOT—the prototype of a 12-inch Osama bin Laden action figure commissioned by the CIA from GI Joe creator Donald Levine as part of a 2005 influence operation code name DEVIL EYES.
Washington Post: CIA hatched plan to make demon toy to counter Osama bin Laden’s influence
“Beginning in about 2005, the CIA began secretly developing a custom-made Osama 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…
There’s a dispute over how many of the figurines, if any, were ultimately delivered. A person with direct knowledge of the project in China said hundreds of the toys — one of which was seen by The Washington Post — were made as part of a preproduction run and sent on a freighter to the Pakistani city of Karachi in 2006.
The CIA, while not disputing that it had commissioned the bin Laden figures, said the project was discontinued shortly after the prototypes were developed.
‘To our knowledge, there were only three individual action figures ever created, and these were merely to show what a final product might look like,’ CIA spokesman Ryan Trapani said. ‘After being presented with these examples, the CIA declined to pursue this idea and did not produce or distribute any of these action figures. Furthermore, CIA has no knowledge of these action figures being produced or distributed by others.’”
One has to wonder if there’s any connection with the never-explained incident in which a photo of an American soldier held hostage in Baghdad turned out to be a well-posed “Special Ops Cody” action figure.