Monday, January 16, 2006

Is There Any Intelligence in American Intelligence Services

You would have thought that with America's appalling relationship with all things Muslim, they would ensure that they stood on solid ground before taking unprovoked and precipitous action.

You would have thought that after the disastrous invasion of Iraq sovereign territory on the back of extremely flaky, and wrong intelligence, they would not do anything again that would smack of incompetence or without being 100% sure.

But no.

This weekend saw the CIA launch an unprovoked attack on Pakistani territory in an attempt to kill the "second-in-charge" of al-Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahri. Apparently the attack was extremely accurate only killing 18 innocent men, women and children in Damadola along with a lot of cattle, - the village's main source of income, - just one problem, unfortunately, their main target, al-Zawahri, wasn't there.

The reason the attack was launched was because the CIA had "intelligence" that al-Zawahri would be at a meal in the village. That "intelligence" as with a lot of other "intelligence" gathered by the CIA was wrong.

But hey! It's OK because US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says it's OK. OK! Ms Rice said tough tactics are necessary in the fight against al-Qaeda. "We'll continue to work with the Pakistanis and we'll try to address their concerns," she said on Monday. Describing the country as an ally in the "war on terror", she said al-Qaeda and its supporters "are not people who can be dealt with lightly". She said she could not comment on any specific circumstances, of course.

This "working with the Pakistanis" term is intriguing as the impression I have is that the Pakistani Government were not told or involved in this illegal action on foreign sovereign soil. However, the effect of the attack has been to pull more people into the terrorist camp, and even more people, if that was possible, now hate the sight and sound of the USA. Praising Zawahiri as a soldier of Islam, local Islamic militant commander and fugitive, Maulana Faqir Mohammad reportedly said: "I am a small man with few resources but I would offer him refuge if he made a request".

"America raised the bogey of Zawahri to provide justification for this attack," Meraj ul-Huda, an opposition leader, told a rally in the city of Karachi.

So all in all, a pretty successful weekend for the top brass in the US. I presume that both the political and executive heads of the CIA will immediately tender their resignations after yet another bungled operation.

One telling comment came from Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz. Speaking on the eve of a visit to the US, where he plans to discuss the economy and security issues, Mr Aziz said Friday's incident, though "regrettable", did not take away "from the fact that Pakistan needs investment". So he's going to be pretty tough with the Bush administration when he sees them!

6 comments:

Jay said...

And still they can't figure out why most of the world hates and fears us.

sandegaye said...

I feel as tho I owe the whole world one big apology for the murderous behaviors of this administration.
We are indeed the boil on the ass of humanity.

Mark said...

Hi,

Don't beat yourselves up over this. Most rational and thoughtful people know that it is this corrupt administration that is at fault, not the people as a whole.

I just wish my Government had the moral backbone to condemn what has happened, but no, - silence.

bonnie said...

Being an even-slightly-liberal American these days feels a bit like being a sentient cell in a very large & destructive animal - every time you see something like this happen it's awful because you know that you were somehow part of it, no matter how sad you are about the outcome you still bear some tiny measure of responsibility...

one can only hope that eventually there are enough like-thinking "sentient cells" to make the whole animal start being more careful - problem is even if we pull that off, there's already so much that's been done & can't be undone.

web_loafer said...

Have you read any real news about this matter? 3 very important terrorists were taken out and will be plotting death to infidels no more.
Do you think we should coddle and woo the terrorists while they plan to kill us?
I am glad the Leftists of America are out of power. Maybe you all will return to power, but not while our nation is in danger. When the chips are down.....America will win, with or without your help....just don't stand in the way of victory.
I too long for peaceful times in America, and when that peace comes, I'll probably consider voting for a Democrat.
Until then, My country first, politics second, and that is
a lesson some of you need to learn.
I know you hate Bush.
That is your hang-up, I hate no one save the scumbag terrorists.
When peace returns to America, we all will be in a better mood.

Mark said...

I'm sorry, but vastly more people die in America from guns than from terrorists.

Where's Bush's "War on Guns"?

Also, don't beleive what you read in the right-wing chickenhawk press. Having read widely from a number of different sources, I can find NO report about terrorists being killed, but even if there were, why kill the women, why kill the chidren. Why initiate hostilities against a friendly sovereign nation? Has America lost all moral responsibility when it comes to the rule of law.

While Bush continues, the number of terrorists will expand exponentionally, - maybe that is what he wants. Do I hate him? I don't know him, but I believe the lying bastard needs to be impeached, and you need to start opening your eys to truth!