NYT: Diversion of resources to Iraq contributed to al Qaeda resurgence in Pakistan.
NYT: Diversion of resources to Iraq contributed to al Qaeda resurgence in Pakistan.
In a front page story this morning, the New York Times reports on the story of how Al Qaeda “gained a new haven” in Pakistan’s tribal areas across the border from Afghanistan. According to the Times, “it is also a story of how the White House shifted its sights, beginning in 2002, from counterterrorism efforts in Afghanistan and Pakistan to preparations for the war in Iraq“:
Current and former military and intelligence officials said that the war in Iraq consistently diverted resources and high-level attention from the tribal areas. When American military and intelligence officials requested additional Predator drones to survey the tribal areas, they were told no drones were available because they had been sent to Iraq.
[...]
One reason for this, according to two former intelligence officials directly involved in the Qaeda hunt, was that by 2006 the Iraq war had drained away most of the C.I.A. officers with field experience in the Islamic world. “You had a very finite number” of experienced officers, said one former senior intelligence official. “Those people all went to Iraq. We were all hurting because of Iraq.”
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bushco validated al-cia-duh… he has been their biggest recruitment “tool”….
June 30th, 2008 at 11:19 amOf course, no matter how convincing the evidence, people are still being told to believe that the Republicans are more capable when it comes to winning a ‘war on terror’….
sic transit gloria mundi
June 30th, 2008 at 11:21 amMaybe Dubya will get a Medal of Freedom from OBL when he slithers out of office in January.
June 30th, 2008 at 11:21 amYet another stirring George W achievment! Here’s to the President’s Legacy, may the world never forget!
June 30th, 2008 at 11:23 amImpeach Pelosi, Cheney and Bush and Save the Constitution!
9/11 changed everything. The Surge will fix everything.
(cough)
June 30th, 2008 at 11:25 amWe needed a report to tell us this? Jeebus, any one with an I.Q. Above room temp. knew this was going to happen and most of us were screaming as loudly as we could that this is going to be a mistake of catastrophic proportions!(going into Iraq before finishing the job in Afghanistan)
Nobody listened and I doubt their listening now.
June 30th, 2008 at 11:26 amYes, but what does little Billy Kristol say? Was the writer of this editorial wearing a flag pin? Why does the NYT hate our troops?
June 30th, 2008 at 11:31 amAbout 5 years too late.
June 30th, 2008 at 11:32 amBut this plays perfectly to the Right. Think about it -
They can still use Al Qaeda as their election season bogeyman *and* we’re still in Iraq, building permanent bases to protect western oil companies’ interests.
Seen in that cynical light it’s all one big win.
June 30th, 2008 at 11:36 amActually about 6 years too late – preparations for the Iraqi occupation were initiated in July and August of 2002 as assets were being diverted to Kuwait at that time.
June 30th, 2008 at 11:37 amSo much for the theory of Blitzkrieg spoused by Rumsfeld… Tends to be a Imperium killer, or suicide tactic, as was for Napoleon in Russia or Hitler in the URSS. This time has been in a little country, though. A fruit of overpride.
June 30th, 2008 at 11:42 amA little quote from the article linked above about a planned offensive into Pakistan:
‘Mr. Goss urged the military to carry out the mission, and some C.I.A. officials in Washington even tried to give orders to execute the raid without informing Ryan C. Crocker, then the American ambassador in Islamabad’
Says a lot about us believing anything from Crocker about Iran now doesn’t it?
June 30th, 2008 at 11:45 amlol the al qaeda myth continues to this day…how cute…
June 30th, 2008 at 11:47 amAs if a radical Muslim sect hell-bent on destroying Western society would name themselves “The Base”.
Sounds MUCH more like DOD wargames-derived nomenclature.
PsyOps works both ways.
June 30th, 2008 at 12:17 pmDick Cheney was meeting with big oil execs and reviewing maps of oil fields in Iraq well before 9-11.
June 30th, 2008 at 12:29 pmWho was it again that was behind those attacks ? I forget .
Whoever it was had the ability to bring down Bldg. 7 in classic controlled demo. form using nothing but . . a few fires ?
Here’s a little more info… From the morning Seattle Times article
…In order to keep pressure on the Pakistanis about the tribal areas, officials decided to have Bush raise the issue in personal phone calls with Musharraf.
The talks backfired. Two former U.S. government officials say they were surprised and frustrated when instead of demanding action from Musharraf, Bush instead repeatedly thanked him for his contributions to the war on terror.
Full Article here
June 30th, 2008 at 12:44 pmNow you know why the State Dept. never wanted Bush to have direct talks with Kim Jong-Il.
June 30th, 2008 at 1:37 pmHeh. I’ve always suspected that Bin Laden was on Darth’s payroll.
June 30th, 2008 at 4:07 pmJust wait till we’re fighting Iran also.
June 30th, 2008 at 5:05 pm