CIA: Al-Qaida not the force it once was - Talk of the Town - talkofthetown's Blog - Bakersfield.com

May 30, 2008 at 09:05 AM : Do I believe Hayden?...

Do I believe Hayden?

Hayden said that video taping of prisoner interrogations stopped in 2002. It was a lie. The Army Inspector General reported interrogation tapes from 2004 existed.

Hayden also said the NSA Surveillance Program wasn't violating the law. The program was a clear violation of the FISA law.

Let's just say I have my doubts.

May 30, 2008 at 09:05 AM : Yea, we wooped them...

Yea, we wooped them ,just like we did the VC, another Vietraq for the history books

May 30, 2008 at 09:05 AM : Al-qaida is a guerilla...

Al-qaida is a guerilla movement. It takes roughly 10 troops to 1 insurgent to counter a guerilla movement; 8 or 9 to guard potential targets and 1 or 2 to track down and engage insurgents. This is just to nutralize insurgents, not get rid of them. No guerilla operation can sustain itself without popular support.

The average Iraqi, Palestinian, even Iranian do not want to fight or kill anybody. They want tv sets, reliable utilities, a job that pays a living wage, a secure environment for their children. These material things win guerilla wars, not ideals of democracy vs. socialism or a theocracy vs. secular government. Killing people that a point of a gun is supposed to free is a weak argument for a religious radical. A corrupt and apathetic government that does not provide a contrast is not a winning argument, either. American aid should never have been subjected to graft and corruption. It was.

If al-qaida is fading, it is because they could not deliver what they promised. It's up to us and the Iraqi government not to make the same mistake.

May 30, 2008 at 10:05 AM : If al-qaida is...

If al-qaida is fading, it is because they could not deliver what they promised.

Many foreign recruits are returning home saying they didn't sign up to kill other Muslims. And Americans are harder to kill because they're holed up in the Green Zone and only go out in large numbers.

The problem is that the foreign recruits now have experience and knowledge to use at home if they become disillusioned with their country's government or if other targets become available in other parts of the world. Look at how the Taliban is growing in power in Afghanistan (they took over another area this week).

The other issue to consider is that al-Qaeda is not a big fighting force in Iraq. They are less than 10% of the insurgency according to the U.S. military. The big problem is the Shiite and Sunni militia groups that control neighborhoods and regions in Iraq operating outside of the Iraqi government (which to date has been mostly ineffectual and fragmented). That won't change anytime soon.

Iraq was slapped together by Westerners. Saddam and those before him kept Iraq together by force. A democracy will never work there, the country would fragment. And as much as the neo-cons would like to see, putting another despot in power would never be a viable option. We were better off leaving Iraq alone and isolated.

Hayden can say we are winning the war on terror, but consider that al-Qaeda wasn't even a factor before 9/11. That's how quickly a terrorist group can form, grow and become dangerous.

And Saudi Arabia is still the number one financier of terrorist groups. Regardless of what progress the royal family claims to be making.

May 30, 2008 at 11:05 AM : NATO Looks to Exit...

NATO Looks to Exit Afghanistan Whether U.S. Approves or Not

When NATO meets in Paris in June for a summit on Afghanistan, there could be a secret deal on the table that will offer a way out of a war in which the U.S. and its allies have become increasingly bogged down.

Much to the dismay of Washington war planners, there has been a growing weariness in Europe with the Afghan conflict and reluctance by NATO members to expand troop commitments. This past year, Pentagon chiefs have consistently complained that European allies have not been pulling their weight at a time when it is vital to throw more troops into the fight against a resurgent Taliban, and a re-formed al Qaeda, whose leadership is based somewhere in the tribal lands between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Talk of a secret deal emerged during the recent NATO summit in the Romanian capital, Bucharest, when member nations were given a classified dossier outlining a German-inspired strategy for a reduction in troop levels leading to a phased withdrawal. The proposal conflicted strongly with the views of Pentagon military chiefs who have long argued that a resolution of the conflict could take decades. They believe that, like Iraq, Afghanistan might require a U.S.-NATO presence without a time limit.

http://www.americanfreepress.net/html/nato_looks_to_exit_afghanistan.html

May 30, 2008 at 12:05 PM : USA Military Officers...

USA Military Officers Challenge Official Account of September 11

Twenty-five former U.S. military officers have severely criticized the official account of 9/11 and called for a new investigation. They include former commander of U.S. Army Intelligence, Major General Albert Stubblebine, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, Col. Ronald D. Ray, two former staff members of the Director of the National Security Agency; Lt. Col. Karen Kwiatkowski, PhD, and Major John M. Newman, PhD, and many others. They are among the rapidly growing number of military and intelligence service veterans, scientists, engineers, and architects challenging the government’s story. The officers’ statements appear below, listed alphabetically.

http://www.daily.pk/world/americas/99-americas/3865-usa-military-officers-challenge-official-account-of-september-11.html

May 30, 2008 at 12:05 PM : Who will succeed...

Who will succeed Osama?

"It will be really interesting to see how that plays out," CIA Director Michael Hayden said Tuesday in an Associated Press interview.

"The [Al-Qaida] organization is a lot more networked than it is ruthlessly hierarchical," he said of the group behind the 9/11 attacks on the United States. "How do you pick the next overall leader?"

On what it would mean to get Bin Laden: "If there ever was a sense of invulnerability I think killing or capturing him would shatter it once and for all."

The United States is making "a big and continual push" to capture or kill Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, but his demise won't end the organization's menace, Hayden said. The CIA is equally interested in those jockeying to replace Bin Laden in what he predicted will be a "succession crisis."

A number of Egyptians are now part of Al-Qaida's top echelon and may struggle for power among themselves. Bin Laden's current No. 2, Ayman al-Zawahiri, is an Egyptian.

http://www.startribune.com/world/19304989.html