If you are going to read one post today, I would recommend the following over at the
Harper's magazine blog:
Six Questions for Michael Scheuer on National Security.
For those who don't know who Michael Scheuer is, here is a brief bio statement from the post:
Michael Scheuer served in the CIA for 22 years before resigning in 2004; he served as the chief of the bin Laden unit at the Counterterrorist Center from 1996 to 1999. He is the formerly anonymous author of Imperial Hubris: Why the West is Losing the War on Terror and Through Our Enemies' Eyes: Osama bin Laden, Radical Islam, and the Future of America.
If you are going to link to one blog post, one interview, or make one email forward today, make sure it is this post. It succinctly summarizes not only the failures of the Bush administration in Iraq, but shows how we continue to fail today. Let's take a look...
I'm going to go over the three most important questions and answers I found in the story, but I truly recommend you go check out the
entire post for yourself. And please, forward this to your friends and family.
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1. We're coming up on the five-year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Is the country safer or more vulnerable to terrorism?
The most basic of questions facing our country today: Are we safer than we were before the worst lapse in national security in the modern era? Absolutely not. Despite spending billions on airport security and beefing up the surveillance on official border checkpoints, we are in no better situation today than we were in August, 2001.
Describing our victories as, "tactical and not strategic," Scheuer lays out the reality of the situation:
There have been important successes by the intelligence services and Special Forces in capturing and killing Al Qaeda militants, but in the long run that's just a body count, not progress.
[...]
In the long run, we're not safer because we're still operating on the assumption that we're hated because of our freedoms, when in fact we're hated because of our actions in the Islamic world.
Ah, the fundamental idea that the Bush administration has sold so effectively: They hate us because we are free. The sooner that this concept is dispelled, the sooner we can approach a true understanding of responsible foreign policy in the Middle East.
2. Is Al Qaeda stronger or weaker than it was five years ago?
For the last five years, Bush has rationalized his inability to capture or kill bin Laden as unimportant because he no longer has an established power-base in Afghanistan.
Press Conference: March 13, 2002
Q) But don't you believe that the threat that bin Laden posed won't truly be eliminated until he is found either dead or alive?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, as I say, we haven't heard much from him. And I wouldn't necessarily say he's at the center of any command structure. And, again, I don't know where he is. I -- I'll repeat what I said. I truly am not that concerned about him. I know he is on the run. I was concerned about him, when he had taken over a country. I was concerned about the fact that he was basically running Afghanistan and calling the shots for the Taliban.
But once we set out the policy and started executing the plan, he became -- we shoved him out more and more on the margins. He has no place to train his al Qaeda killers anymore. And if we -- excuse me for a minute -- and if we find a training camp, we'll take care of it. Either we will or our friends will. That's one of the things -- part of the new phase that's becoming apparent to the American people is that we're working closely with other governments to deny sanctuary, or training, or a place to hide, or a place to raise money.
And we've got more work to do. See, that's the thing the American people have got to understand, that we've only been at this six months. This is going to be a long struggle. I keep saying that; I don't know whether you all believe me or not. But time will show you that it's going to take a long time to achieve this objective. And I can assure you, I am not going to blink. And I'm not going to get tired. Because I know what is at stake. And history has called us to action, and I am going to seize this moment for the good of the world, for peace in the world and for freedom.
Rather than personally point out the ridiculous nature of the above statements, something that becomes more evident with each passing day, I'll let Michael Scheuer sum it up:
From the very first, bin Laden has said that he's just one person and Al Qaeda is a vanguard organization, that it needs other Muslims to join them. He's always said that his primary goal is to incite attacks by people who might not have any direct contact with Al Qaeda. Since 2001, and especially since mid-2005, there's been an increase in the number of groups that were not directly tied to Al Qaeda but were inspired by bin Laden's words and actions.
The key to Scheuer's argument is that by allowing bin Laden to survive for the last five years, he has taken on an even greater status as a 'hero' in the radical Muslim world. He has openly defied the United States and its allies, and they have as of yet had no direct reprecussions. This is bin Laden's growing legacy, and this is what the Bush administration denies so vehemently on the grounds that the terms of success and failure are theirs to create and destroy.
4. Has the war in Iraq helped or hurt in the fight against terrorism?
Here is the big question. And Michael Scheuer has the big answer:
It broke the back of our counterterrorism program. Iraq was the perfect execution of a war that demanded jihad to oppose it. You had an infidel power invading and occupying a Muslim country and it was perceived to be unprovoked.
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We see Iraq as a honey pot that attracts jihadists whom we can kill there instead of fighting them here. We are ignoring that Iraq is not just a place to kill Americans; Al Qaeda has always said that it requires safe havens. It has said it couldn't get involved with large numbers in the Balkans war because it had no safe haven in the region. Now they have a safe haven in Iraq, which is so big and is going to be so unsettled for so long. For the first time, it gives Al Qaeda contiguous access to the Arabian Peninsula, to Turkey, and to the Levant.
[...]
All of this is a tremendous advantage for Al Qaeda. We've moved the center of jihad a thousand miles west from Afghanistan to the Middle East.
This is the key point to hammer home to those you know who are still on the fence regarding the Iraq War: No matter whether our reasons for entering the country were moral or not; whether they were legal or not; whether they were necessary or not...the world is now much less safe because of it. Any positives are greatly outweighed by the negatives, and this is the one constant truth: Things are getting much, much worse.
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As stated earlier, I believe this interview should be sent to anyone who you believe is still confused about whether the Iraq War has been worth the nearly three-thousand American lives that have been sacrificed in the name of the Bush doctrine. And just as important, I would recommend it to all of you as a great summary of the failures inherent in the Bush administration's foreign policy.
Take a look, and consider a recommend if you feel this story is worthy of more attention and discussion from the Kossack community.
P.S. -- I had my wisdom teeth yanked unceremoniously out of my head yesterday, so I blame any typos on the pain killers. I generally shy away from medicine of all types for various personal reasons, but jeesh, for the first time in my life I am extremely happy that Vicodin exists.
(Originally posted at Deny My Freedom)