Redstate

Posted at 8:06am on Jul. 3, 2008 A Roundup of the Colombian FARC hostage rescue.

Which, by all accounts, was one for the books.

By Moe Lane

As you've no doubt heard, fifteen hostages were rescued yesterday from the South American terrorist group FARC. Actually, what you probably heard was that French-Colombian Ingrid Betancourt (oddly, though she ran for President of Colombia, it's never the other way around), Three Americans, and mumblemumblemumble some Colombian guys mumblemumblemumble got rescued, but that's just the American media's little way.

But I digress.

Read on.

Posted in Colombia | FARC | Foreign Affairs | The War On Terrorism | Uribe — Comments (16)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 2:38am on May 31, 2008 Turnabout Would Be Fair Play

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

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?

Posted in The War On Terrorism | War — Comments (4)/ Email this page » / Read More »