US will be defeated in Afghanistan: Former CIA official(Sheuer barf)

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[milestogo]

US will be defeated in Afghanistan: Former CIA official

Washington, Dec 31: A former senior CIA operative who tracked Osama bin Laden for 10 long years foresees "an apparent American defeat in Afghanistan". Michael Sheuer said the way ahead in Afghanistan and along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border "ultimately would lead to the defeat of US and NATO forces and the demise of the Karzai government". Scheuer told the Daily Times in Washington that by failing to accomplish the only mission that had to be accomplished in Afghanistan, the US was now faced with a growing insurgency that probably already outnumbered the combined US-NATO forces. But he has handsome words of praise for Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf. The US has seldom found an ally better than Musharraf, who has acted to advance "US interests" even while jeopardizing his own, Sheuer observed. Some of Musharraf's actions, like sending Pakistani troops to tribal areas, were clearly "against Pakistan's interests" and have "brought his country to the brink of a civil war", he said. By not abandoning the Cold War practice of trying to find foreigners to do "America's dirty work, we have blithely assumed that Musharraf's Pakistan is an American proxy, with national-security interests that mirror those of the US", he said. "The truth is that virtually none of the many things Musharraf has done to assist the US in Afghanistan has been in Pakistan's national interest; indeed, by sending the Pakistani Army into the Pashtun regions he brought his country to the brink of civil war." His praise for Musharraf was in sharp contrast to criticism from most American think tanks who, while crediting the President with working to fight terrorism, accuse him of either not doing enough or serving the interests of the Pakistani Pushtuns who support the Taliban and host foreign and Al Qaeda fighters. The Sep 1 agreement that Musharraf's regime signed with the tribals in North Waziristan has worked precisely in that direction and incensed Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Musharaf had also worked to rescue Pakistani nationals fighting alongside the Taliban, when the latter's regime fell, allowing in the process many key Taliban and Al Qaeda hands to escape, they have said. However, Sheuer takes a peep into American history to draw an analogy about Musharraf's role. Bureau Report

[KevinDavis]

I'm sick and tired of everybody who is playing Armchair Generals who thinks they know more than what is going on over there than the actual Generals..

[Thebaddog]

I suppose the issue is what he considers victory. My definition is to make these bastards pay heavily for attacking us and keeping them over there.

We are winning.

[Gideon Reader]

Not Spy!
Analyst! With the accent in anal.

[Cacique]

btt

[CottShop]

We have won- we're in clean-up and contain mode right now- Many many insurgents have been taken out, the taliban has been crippled-

YES they can still strike- like Rumsfeld said- they have a distinct advantage of only having to be right once, but we must be right EVERY single time in order to prevent an attack- the attacker who hides behind hte skirts of women and chilren, and disguises themselves as ordinary citizens ALWAYS has a huge advantage over a conventional army- however, do not mistake isolated attacks as a sign of our defeat or of losing- We've done very well against htem-

The press however zeros in on isolated events and presents it as though the enemy were victorious always, but that simply isn't the case. The press RARELY shows you all the attacks we've made against them and been succesful with- Our military has not lost a single significant battle in either Iraq or Afhganistan. http://sacredscoop.com

[Paradox]

He is right about one thing. Getting Bin Laden would help more than any other strategy or policy. He is the spiritual leader of a group of people who think in slogans and act with bullets.

No, this is a many headed snake, he dies, someone else rises to the top. It would be GREAT to kill him, simply because Justice cries out for it, but there is no, nor was there ever, an "easy" way to win this, this is going to be a long, tough slog, as the President has always maintained. We either have the stomach for it, or we dont, and in that case, we'd better start writing our own eulogies.

[expatguy]

There is a difference between can we win and will we win.

Im of the opinion that we won't win either unless we can stop the PC madness.

[Gunny Gene]

It will only be a "long hard slog" if we continue to avoid use the weaponry at our disposal for fear of "collateral damage" and the inevitable whining by the "International Community".

Far too many bleeding hearts in this country think every murderous sob on the planet deserves a trial.

It's way past time to get real and just start layin it down. We can pick up the pieces later.

[Canard]

"The press however zeros in on isolated events and presents it as though the enemy were victorious always, but that simply isn't the case. The press RARELY shows you all the attacks we've made against them and been succesful with- Our military has not lost a single significant battle in either Iraq or Afhganistan."

This isn't a set piece military battle though. Of course we haven't 'lost a significant battle'. The enemy we are fighting in Afghanistan doesn't need to win, they just need to not lose in overall terms.

"We have won- we're in clean-up and contain mode right now"

I don't think that that is the experience of British forces currently serving in Helmand. And, that's not even considering, as I said before, the large resource of support and reinforcements still available to the Taleban over the border.

[padre35]

i want to know what makes Sheur say that?

What the taliban are massing on the outskirts of Kabul?

in asymmetrical warfare, all these bozos can do is launch small scale attacks, it takes very little moeney or manpower to do that.

So INOW, until we find every Taliban with bad intentions, we will never "win" in Afghanistan according to this man.

That will never happen, but the rest of Afghanistan will begin to resemble exactly what it is...

A backwater fourth world country were people kill at the drop of a hat.

[wtc911]

Even the old Soviet Union was unable to pacify this country despite its proximity to it.

____________________________________

Afghanistan may be the most fought over area in world history but nobody has ever conquered and held it for long.

[oyez]

The quicker these eggheads stop carping and start supporting the quicker we get the job done. Hell, If these people we around 70 years ago Our big issues today would be, "Should the official US language be Nipponese or German?"

[FlingWingFlyer]

Wasn't Valerie Plame a "CIA operative" also?

[FlingWingFlyer]

A former senior CIA operative who tracked Osama bin Laden for 10 long years foresees "an apparent American defeat in Afghanistan".

President Clinton and his national security team ignored several opportunities to capture Osama bin Laden and his terrorist associates, including one as late as last year (2000). - Mansoor Ijaz

Maybe this "CIA operative" should have spoken to his boss, Bill Clinton.

[Zhang Fei]

YES they can still strike- like Rumsfeld said- they have a distinct advantage of only having to be right once, but we must be right EVERY single time in order to prevent an attack- the attacker who hides behind hte skirts of women and chilren, and disguises themselves as ordinary citizens ALWAYS has a huge advantage over a conventional army- however, do not mistake isolated attacks as a sign of our defeat or of losing- We've done very well against htem-

It goes both ways. In going after bin Laden or Mullah, we only have to be right once. They have to be right every single time to stay alive. It's not all that asymmetrical at all.

[CottShop]

well true- When we face them there- was kinda thinking more in terms of defending our country here against hteir attacks (Yes, I know my post didn't state that- My fingers don't type what I'm thinking unfortunately lol)

[pissant]

When you see eye to eye with this "expert" when the contrary has been happening - namely we have been stacking up Taliban like cordwood starting when the NY TImes breathlessly reported the Spring offensive the Taliban launched- I can see why you are a pessimist. You've latched on to the opinions of those who are cheering on the enemy and see the US military as broke and defeated. Fortunately, the quagmire is only a NY TImes/Pat Buchanan generated mirage.

You are, as is this author, woefully uniformed of the cleanup the US and some NATO (namely Brit & Canadian) have been performing these last 9 months in Afghanistan.

ANd as I recall, you were holding these same quagmire defeatist opinions last year when I talked with you. At least you are consistent.

[Eternal_Bear]

I thought we have been "cleaning" up for the last 5 years. We will not get serious until we clean out the Taliban bases along the pakistani border. If that is not done, the war can go on forever. You can never defeat the enemy as long as you give them sanctuaries.

[RightWhale]

He is the spiritual leader

Heavy emphasis on 'spirit.' Six years of 'spirit.'

[Wuli]

That is a fatal misunderstanding of the roots and the leaders in Al Queda, and in similar groups. Osama, while not figured head, while quite a dominant and commanding presence was none of those things because of who he was, but because of what he said, what he was willing to do to put his beliefs into action, and who was willing to back him up with money.

There is no shortage of such individuals in Al Queda now, nor was there one in the past, nor will there be one in the future. I have no belief that 9/11 required Osama bin Laden alive at the time. It, or an equally bold and deadly event would have been achieved by Al Queda by that time if not soon thereafter, with or without Osama bin Laden.

Killing Osama will change nothing, in fact he is more valuable to us alive and required to fight us now, with us actively fighting back, in every WOT theatre in the world. Dead he would rise within radical Islam due to the near-myth status the west has created for him; because the world would see that his death changed nothing.