Tuesday, January 05, 2010
Tinker, tailor, soldier, terrorist
Our war on terrorism is beginning to sound more and more like something out of a John Le Carre novel from the Cold War. ... Reader No. sends in this piece about how American intelligence sources may have mucked up the underwear-bomber case, in contrast to how British intelligence handled the matter. But to show there's no easy answer to fighting terrorism, here's a piece about how Jordan's vaunted General Intelligence Directorate screwed up by vouching for the man who ended up blowing up the CIA base in Afghanistan. He turned out to be a double agent for Al Qaeda. Keep in mind Jordan's intelligence service is the polar opposite of our domestic-law burdened FBI. The lesson: We're up against truly nasty foes who don't conform to anti-terrorism notions set forth in op-eds or government field manuals. ... Two other points: A.) I'm eager to read David Ignatius's future take on the GID debacle. b.) I hope the CIA doesn't learn the wrong lessons from the Afghan attack, for Jordan's right that we rely too much on technology for spy intelligence.
Our war on terrorism is beginning to sound more and more like something out of a John Le Carre novel from the Cold War. ... Reader No. sends in this piece about how American intelligence sources may have mucked up the underwear-bomber case, in contrast to how British intelligence handled the matter. But to show there's no easy answer to fighting terrorism, here's a piece about how Jordan's vaunted General Intelligence Directorate screwed up by vouching for the man who ended up blowing up the CIA base in Afghanistan. He turned out to be a double agent for Al Qaeda. Keep in mind Jordan's intelligence service is the polar opposite of our domestic-law burdened FBI. The lesson: We're up against truly nasty foes who don't conform to anti-terrorism notions set forth in op-eds or government field manuals. ... Two other points: A.) I'm eager to read David Ignatius's future take on the GID debacle. b.) I hope the CIA doesn't learn the wrong lessons from the Afghan attack, for Jordan's right that we rely too much on technology for spy intelligence.
