Fred Jones Posted June 24, 2004 Share Posted June 24, 2004 CIA insider says U.S. fighting wrong war Anonymous career officer makes bold claims in book about U.S. war on terror http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5279743/ By Andrea Mitchell Correspondent NBC News Updated: 7:30 p.m. ET June 23, 2004 A career CIA officer claims in a new book that America is losing the war on terror, in part because of the invasion of Iraq, which, he says, distracted the United States from the war against terrorism and further fueled al-Qaida’s struggle against the United States. The author, who writes as “Anonymous,” is a 22-year veteran of the CIA and still works for the intelligence agency, which allowed him to publish the book after reviewing it for classified information. In an interview with NBC’s Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Andrea Mitchell, he calls the U.S. war in Iraq a dream come true for Osama bin Laden, saying, “Bin Laden saw the invasion of Iraq as a Christmas gift he never thought he’d get.” By invading a country that’s regarded as the second holiest place in Islam, he asserts, the Bush administration inadvertently validated bin Laden’s assertions that the United States intends a holy war against Muslims. In his book, titled "Imperial Hubris," he calls the Iraq invasion "an avaricious, premeditated, unprovoked war against a foe who posed no immediate threat,” arguing against the concept of pre-emptive war put forward by President Bush as justification for the Iraq war. The book also argues that the U.S. focus on bin Laden as a terrorist is the wrong way to fight him and the wrong way to think of the foe. The real enemy, he asserts, is the radical form of Islam that bin Laden and his followers espouse. And he calls for escalating the level of violence in the war against al-Qaida. To read the complete transcript of the interview go to the site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjah Posted June 25, 2004 Share Posted June 25, 2004 A very compelling read. Thanks for the link! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. S Posted June 25, 2004 Share Posted June 25, 2004 hmm, interesting read, and opinionated, though its his book so his ideas can go in. I dont think the War on Terror is faltering really, but yes, much of our resources have been diverted to Iraq, and more and more keep going in. Should Bin Laden be alive(which I believe he is), he definitely is pretty happy for now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rfdc Posted June 25, 2004 Share Posted June 25, 2004 :40oz: uh huh, for now you say? Soon to be "was" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chomerics Posted June 25, 2004 Share Posted June 25, 2004 It's real, people just don't want to believe it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
visionary Posted June 25, 2004 Share Posted June 25, 2004 This is the guy who people on CNN were worrying about, because he admitted on the air to being something of an Osama fan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TC4 Posted June 25, 2004 Share Posted June 25, 2004 Originally posted by visionary This is the guy who people on CNN were worrying about, because he admitted on the air to being something of an Osama fan. Yeah, that's the guy I want giving us policy advice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nerm Posted June 25, 2004 Share Posted June 25, 2004 Originally posted by Fred Jones “Bin Laden saw the invasion of Iraq as a Christmas gift he never thought he’d get.” By invading a country that’s regarded as the second holiest place in Islam, he asserts, the Bush administration inadvertently validated bin Laden’s assertions that the United States intends a holy war against Muslims. This was one of the main reasons that I thought the Iraq war was a bad idea. Potential terrorists who were on the fence or mildly skeptical of Bin Laden's claims could view American actions in Iraq as "proof" that what he was saying had validity. I also thought that we could have gained more international support if more patience was shown. It is easier to counter claims of American imperialism if half the world is providing support. It would also be nice to have more assistance in building a democracy in Iraq. The Iraq war also limited the US in how it can handle other hot spots. The way it is now, it is hard to consider action against Iran if they continue to try build a nuclear weapons program. All those potential terrorists, who are still on the fence are really going to question US intentions if we strike another Islamic country. I think the fact that the US is withdrawing troops from South Korea while North Korea is talking about testing nuclear weapons is a bad idea as well. In the long run a democratic Iraq could be a very good thing in the war against terror. I hope Bush is right and I hope he pulls it off. If it was my call, I would have waited until I thought the US was in more proximal danger. If there was any truth the allegations that Russian intel indicated that Iraq planed attacks against the US (i.e. we believed that they were going to attack us), then I am 100% behind Bush's decision to go to war when he did. I'm still waiting to get more info on that. From where I sit now, I think it was a bad call. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Destino Posted June 25, 2004 Share Posted June 25, 2004 Originally posted by visionary This is the guy who people on CNN were worrying about, because he admitted on the air to being something of an Osama fan. Could you at least try to back that up with something? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. D Posted June 25, 2004 Share Posted June 25, 2004 No you just better be careful here and not incite any more "arab anger" because you know, "word on the streeT" says something totally different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbooma Posted June 25, 2004 Share Posted June 25, 2004 with the intelligence we have recieved from the CIA and FBI i don't think they can talk to much right now :doh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chomerics Posted June 25, 2004 Share Posted June 25, 2004 Originally posted by jbooma with the intelligence we have recieved from the CIA and FBI i don't think they can talk to much right now :doh: Don't you mean the intellegence we decided to "cherry pick" from the CIS and FBI Booma? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.