On this week’s episode, investigative journalist Florian Flade joins Chris to uncover three little-known German intelligence operations from the Cold War and their aftermath: supporting the Mujahideen in Afghanistan, secretly buying Soviet weapons from demoralized troops in East Germany, and covertly shipping GDR arms to Israel. Florian explains how these missions reflected Germany’s risk-taking intelligence culture, the close ties with allies like the CIA and Mossad, and the lessons they still carry for today as modern battlefields like Ukraine become testing grounds for foreign weaponry.
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Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/florianflade.bsky.social Twitter/X: https://x.com/FlorianFlade Blog: https://ojihad.wordpress.com/Florian’s reporting discussed in the episode
"When the BND Supported the Mujahideen" | Taggeshau: https://www.tagesschau.de/investigativ/wdr/bnd-mudschaheddin-101.html"Summer Rain in the Hindu Kush" | Verschlusssache: https://ojihad.wordpress.com/2021/09/06/sommerregen-am-hindukusch/
"Treasures of Steel" | Verschlusssache: https://ojihad.wordpress.com/2022/12/01/schatze-aus-stahl/
"The 'Agricultural Machinery Affair'" | Verschlusssache: https://ojihad.wordpress.com/2025/08/11/die-landmaschinen-affare/
"The BND and the Yom Kippur War" | Verschlusssache: https://ojihad.wordpress.com/2022/10/06/der-bnd-und-der-jom-kippur-krieg/
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