Turnabout Would Be Fair Play
By Pejman Yousefzadeh Posted in The War On Terrorism | War — Comments (4) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
We have been used to CIA estimates--and politicians who use those estimates for partisan purposes--telling us that our actions are making terrorist groups like al Qaeda stronger and more potent. Such estimates have been the cause of huge amounts of policy alarmism when it comes to analyzing the war on terrorism.
I presume then that the same people who have been so fond of telling us how much trouble we were in when any of these dark and forbidding intelligence estimates came out, will now change their tune:
Less than a year after his agency warned of new threats from a resurgent al-Qaeda, CIA Director Michael V. Hayden now portrays the terrorist movement as essentially defeated in Iraq and Saudi Arabia and on the defensive throughout much of the rest of the world, including in its presumed haven along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.
In a strikingly upbeat assessment, the CIA chief cited major gains against al-Qaeda's allies in the Middle East and an increasingly successful campaign to destabilize the group's core leadership.
While cautioning that al-Qaeda remains a serious threat, Hayden said Osama bin Laden is losing the battle for hearts and minds in the Islamic world and has largely forfeited his ability to exploit the Iraq war to recruit adherents. Two years ago, a CIA study concluded that the U.S.-led war had become a propaganda and marketing bonanza for al-Qaeda, generating cash donations and legions of volunteers.
All that has changed, Hayden said in an interview with The Washington Post this week that coincided with the start of his third year at the helm of the CIA.
"On balance, we are doing pretty well," he said, ticking down a list of accomplishments: "Near strategic defeat of al-Qaeda in Iraq. Near strategic defeat for al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia. Significant setbacks for al-Qaeda globally -- and here I'm going to use the word 'ideologically' -- as a lot of the Islamic world pushes back on their form of Islam," he said.
For the record, I remain cautious about whether a corner truly has been turned and I imagine that there will remain a very tough fight ahead. But it will be interesting to see whether the same people who embraced CIA estimates when they gave us bad news will embrace this latest, upbeat estimate.
They should if they want to be consistent. But then, consistency goes by the wayside when partisanship takes priority, no?
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Turnabout Would Be Fair Play 4 Comments (0 topical, 4 editorial, 0 hidden) Post a comment »
And George Bush will never, ever get credit for it, and that is standing fast, taking the fight to them in Iraq, continuing to put pressure on them in Afghanistan (more to come when Petraeus starts putting his laser beams on those mountains), was the right thing to do. The sad thing is the American people got sucked into the stupidity of the liberal Democrats, bought into all of their hype, and are perfectly comfortable not holding them accountable for anything they do or don't do. Go Mr. President!
Good news bears repeating;)
"ma deuce says no truce"
"ma deuce says no truce"
and allow liberals to de-fund the military for their pork, is to ensure there are no foreign threats. We will now learn that yeah, we won, now that the war is over, it is time to start providing $$$ to liberal interest groups.
And George Bush will never, ever get credit for it, and that is standing fast, taking the fight to them in Iraq, continuing to put pressure on them in Afghanistan (more to come when Petraeus starts putting his laser beams on those mountains), was the right thing to do. The sad thing is the American people got sucked into the stupidity of the liberal Democrats, bought into all of their hype, and are perfectly comfortable not holding them accountable for anything they do or don't do. Go Mr. President!