Ex-security aide blasts terror war

The Washington Post ^ | June 16 2003 | Laura Blumenfeld

[anglian]

WASHINGTON, June 16 — Five days before the war began in Iraq, as President Bush prepared to raise the terrorism threat level to orange, a top White House counterterrorism adviser unlocked the steel door to his office, an intelligence vault secured by an electronic keypad, a combination lock and an alarm. He sat down and turned to his inbox.

[Miss Marple]

Buried in the middle of the article:

Although Beers has worked in three Republican administrations, he is a registered Democrat.

[Psalm 73]

"...he tears up when he watches "The West Wing.""

Oh yea, that just sucked all of his credibility out - just another life-long beaurocrat with a bone-to-pick.

[AdmSmith]

He thinks the war in Afghanistan was a job begun, then abandoned. Rather than destroying al Qaeda terrorists, the fighting only dispersed them. The flow of aid has been slow and the U.S. military presence is too small, he said. "Terrorists move around the country with ease. We don't even know what's going on. Osama bin Laden could be almost anywhere in Afghanistan," he said.

As for the Saudis, he said, the administration has not pushed them hard enough to address their own problem with terrorism. Even last September, he said, "attacks in Saudi Arabia sounded like they were going to happen imminently."

Do you not agree with this?

[Rudder]

Beers, a lifelong bureaucrat...(When he finally decided to quit, he drove to a friend's house in Arlington. Clarke, his old counterterrorism pal, took one look at the haggard man on his stoop and opened a bottle of Russian River Pinot Noir. Then he opened another bottle.)---and a drunk.

[Criminal Number 18F]

He thinks the war in Afghanistan was a job begun, then abandoned

We still have the equivalent of a Special Forces Group, a partial SEAL team, and an infantry brigade in Afghanistan. This week, according to the AP wire, they engaged in a firefight in Shkin and captured three Muj-era Blowpipe AA missiles in Asadabad.

Perhaps the liberal editors in the Times and Post have abandoned the war on terror -- something they never really supported in the first place -- but the people actually prosecuting the war on terror don't take their orders from these losers.

For which we may all be grateful.

d.o.l.

Criminal Number 18F

[anglian]

Yea, well he should know, he also sounds like a bad case of burnout. But instead of trying fix something that ain't right, what do you do? Take your ball home? Not only that, he gives the ball to the other team.

[Criminal Number 18F]

Eh, that's just the guys on the ground. Don't forget the air -- USAF, USMC, and coalition.

All told there are about 11,500 Coalition soldiers and airmen in Afghanistan, of whom 8,500 are Americans.

d.o.l.

Criminal Number 18F

[Cachelot]

Although Beers has worked in three Republican administrations, he is a registered Democrat.

Ah. And being a mole in three Republican administrations, he has now returned to his master, Lurch.

[arasina]

Does this not give new meaning to "Hold muh Beer(s)?"

Gee, The Washington Post found a mole in our security and don't even realize it because they're so busy indirectly praising Kerry Ketchup. I suspect Mr. Beers has NEVER liked a Republican and his leaving sounds a little bit sour grapes.

[Timeout]

After 35 years of issuing measured statements from inside intelligence circles, he speaks more like a public servant than a public figure.

Let me do a little re-write here:

After 35 years of public service Beers qualified for a nice, fat retirement package. But why just retire with a gold watch? He could make a valuable contribution to "the cause", join the paid staff of a presidential campaign and help his favorite French-looking candidate...all while collecting that juicy pension check!

[AdmSmith]

Yea, well he should know, he also sounds like a bad case of burnout.

Agree, a typical sign is the part with 10 times more data to digest, but with the same resources as before.

[AdmSmith]

War is like inventions: It takes 20 times more time and resources to get the product on the market/fix the country afterwards.

[dirtboy]

He thinks the war in Afghanistan was a job begun, then abandoned. Rather than destroying al Qaeda terrorists, the fighting only dispersed them.

We're never going to eliminate radical Islam. But what you can do is prevent it from organizing in any scale to pose more than a local or regional threat. Anyone who thinks we could have destroyed every last al Qaeda member in Afghanistan is being idiotic, either through ignorance or on purpose to make a political point.

[AdmSmith]

We should have prevented the arab talibans to fly from Afghanistan, not agreed to the Pakistani ISI to remove their officers and collaborators before the war, not accepted the departure of the Saudi officers and collaborators.

Remember som years ago when Kissinger asked what to do during the Vietnam war and the answer from a worker was "Give them hell Henry!"

[dirtboy]

We should have prevented the arab talibans to fly from Afghanistan...not accepted the departure of the Saudi officers and collaborators

That would have alienated the Saudis

not agreed to the Pakistani ISI to remove their officers and collaborators before the war

Likewise, that would have pi**ed off the Pakistanis. As it is, al Qaeda has turned on its Saudi masters, and the Saudis will now be much more effective in dealing with that organization. I expect something similar will happen with Pakistan. It actually serves our interests to have a weakened al Qaeda reduced to strikes near its home base - because they can only strike in ways that will REDUCE their local support.

[piasa]

More infor on Mr. Beers of Kerry campaign/ Chinagate fame here ...

Former Aid Takes Aim at War on Terror