Link's Early Retirement Over

Not only is the depressed economy impacting business and consumer spending, now the branches of the U.S. Military and the CIA are seeing their budgets slashed in response to dramatic reductions in defense spending. The cuts have gone so deep that virtually all CIA ground operations have been terminated, including operations in political hotbeds all over the Mideast. Over the past two months, the number of agents deployed in Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan has shrunk from over three hundred to less than twenty, leaving only the minimal number of agents required to enforce treaties.

To stay in the spy game, the CIA has been forced to be creative in recruiting top talent. Last week, the CIA coerced former star agent Lancelot Link back into service. The sixty-three year old chimp, already setting world records for longevity, agreed to patrol unstable Afghanistan and assist where he can.

“I owe a lot to this country,” Lance appeared to say, although his lips were obviously being manipulated by a banana being held out of camera range. As a bonus, the CIA gets a two-for-one deal, as long time helpmate Mata Hairy was thrown in with the deal.

“Hey, Lance! These overzealous Muslim extremists are crazier than a barrel full of monkeys!” chuckled Mata.

Although the CIA could not state exactly how the pair of primates would be dispatched, rumors in Washington have the two involved in the extermination of Bin Laden. Since 9/11, the elusive Al Qaeda leader has avoided justice by hiding out in several of the thousands of caves that lie in the rocky hills of western Afghanistan. The area is ideal for monkey infiltration, although one famous ape casualty has already been reported. Clyde – of “Every Which Way But Loose” fame -- bought the farm when the “gun” pointing at him was a loaded 45 magnum pistol, and not some hillbilly’s index finger.