From CIA operations in Eastern Europe after 1945 to the Afghan war and its legacy, FIGHTING DIRTY investigates the use of secret armies. As Peter Harclerode reveals, the Afghan war was not the first time western governments have resorted to secret armies -- and not the first time one has turned against its creator. French undercover units in the Algerian war led the 1961 mutiny and tried to assassinate their own President. Others achieved great success: covert operations in Malaya and Oman defeated communist guerrilla movements. Britain's secret war in Borneo held the line against Indonesian aggression. From MI6 and the CIA in Eastern Europe to the CIA in Tibet, the MACV-SOG in Vietnam, the SAS in Oman and the CIA in Afghanistan - this is the secret story of covert operations.