A snakes and ladders 'terror' board game featuring al-Qaeda top brass, including Osama bin Laden, and former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein that was created by CIA to deter children from getting influenced by such leaders has been put on sale.
A snakes and ladders 'terror' board game featuring al-Qaeda top brass, including Osama bin Laden, and former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein that was created by CIA to deter children from getting influenced by such leaders has been put on sale.
The 'snakes and ladders' board game has top al-Qaeda leaders' and Saddam's picture at the head of snakes. This prototype was covertly designed for the CIA by Donald Levine, the creator of the iconic G I Joe doll, in 2005 for an "influence operation", intended to strategically distribute scary or perhaps comical depictions of Osama and Hussein to children, ideally to dissuade them from joining a terrorist group such as al-Qaeda.
The project, intended for use in Arab countries, was discontinued after prototypes were developed.
Board game has blue cardboard playing surface with numbered grid and small photographs of Saddam, Osama and other members of al-Qaeda printed on it, according to the description given by US auctioneers Nate D Sanders. It includes two white and black die and white cup with blue, red and yellow game pieces.
Levine's son Neil is selling the board game prototype through memorabilia auctioneers Nate D Sanders in Los Angeles with a starting bid of $500. As reported earlier, Neil is also selling a demon-faced Osama bin Laden doll that was also created by his father as part of a CIA programme to dissuade children from idolising the al-Qaeda chief. Only three copies of the 12-inch figurine are know to exist as the CIA ditched the secret programme called 'Devil Eyes' which aimed to turn children away from the terror leader.
The auction will take place later this week.
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