‘Over My Dead Body’: Spies Fight Obama Push to Downsize Terror War

Daily Beast ^ | 5/21/2014 | Eli Lake

[mojito]

In 2012, the Obama administration produced a draft National Intelligence Estimate that reached a surprising conclusion: al Qaeda was no longer a direct threat to America. That classified assessment, which has never before been publicly disclosed, was in keeping with the message coming from the White House. President Obama rode to re-election in 2012 partly on the success of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden. At rallies and in press conferences, the president and top officials publicly said al Qaeda was on the run.

But some senior U.S. intelligence officials, like Defense Intelligence Agency Director Gen. Michael Flynn, fought hard against that assessment, which amounted to an official pronouncement of the American intelligence community’s collected wisdom. Flynn and his faction won a partial victory, striking the judgment that the terrorist group no longer posed a threat to the homeland. “Flynn and others at the time made it clear they would not go along with that kind of assessment,” one U.S. intelligence officer who worked on the al Qaeda file told The Daily Beast. “It was basically: ‘Over my dead body.’”

[....]

...the White House has softened its earlier position, concluding that al Qaeda and its affiliates still represented a serious threat. But the tension between the White House and many top military and intelligence officials fighting the long war remain.

In interviews with many of them, a common theme is sounded: The threat from al Qaeda is rising, but the White House is looking to ratchet down the war against these Islamic extremists.

[mojito]

Barry Barry quite contrary how does al Qaeda grow?

[Jack of all Trades]

If “Downsizing the terror war” meant reducing or eliminating the surveillance state, I would argue that the risk would be more than worth it.

[mojito]

The purpose of the surveillance state is not to compromise or defeat islamist terrorists, so there is no chance in he!! that Barry is getting rid of the NSA.

[Nachum]

The list, Ping

Let me know if you would like to be on or off the ping list

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[from occupied ga]

If “Downsizing the terror war” meant reducing or eliminating the surveillance state, I would argue that the risk would be more than worth it.

Agree. Zero's regime has shown total incompetence in actually fighting terrorism (can anyone spell Benghazi?), so who's all that surveillance for? Why it's for us conservative non-worshipers of government of course.

[BilLies]

Eli Lake of the Daily Beast wandering off the reservation?

[null and void]

Poison Photo-Drop .. decision to release photographs .. will imperil nation .. its defenders.

To: Sergeant Tim

Before he is done I fully expect him to release the names, addresses and phone numbers of anyone anywhere in the world who has ever provided any information to agency workers.

The damage to US intel will last multiple generations.

13 posted on 5/12/2009, 9:52:58 AM by null and void (We are now in day 113 of our national holiday from reality.)

[null and void]

Before he is done I fully expect him to release the names, addresses and phone numbers of anyone anywhere in the world who has ever provided any information to agency workers.

The damage to US intel will last multiple generations.

[Count of Monte Fisto]

al Qaeda was no longer a direct threat to America.

Well Uncle Scam has been giving Al Qaeda cash and advanced weapons for years. I guess they won't be a threat as long as they are still on the pay roll. But even if they do shoot down an airliner or shoot up a shopping mall Uncle Scam will get to take more of our money and our freedom so it will all work out in the end.

[mojito]

Lake was never been a koolaid drinker in my experience, but one of the few serious national security reporters in DC.

And certainly better than anyone at the Slimes or the Compost.

[USFRIENDINVICTORIA]

We "westerners" have no idea how to play the type of long game that the Islamists are playing. They keep a running tally of all grievances, going back to before Muhammad turned from thoughts of making a profit (as a merchant) to being a prophet. By comparison, we're not only ahistorical -- we're like the guy in the Memento movie, with no short-term memory. If we don't have a tattoo, or a little note about it, we can't remember it happening.

[grania]

It might be fun to know how Boco Haran got all their weapons.

[DoughtyOne]

There's a vital need for the NSA.  As long as it keeps to it's original mandate, there isn't be a problem with it.  Using it for domestic spying is wrong.  Using to spy on all of us is downright criminal IMO.

We have law enforcement agencies for domestic operations.  That was never the intent of the NSA as I understand it.

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[BuckeyeTexan]

Or, as one senior U.S. intelligence official told The Daily Beast: “Take this ‘al Qaeda is on the run’ message, it’s something you’ve seen in the last couple of years. If they are on the run, they are on the run to the United States.”

Anyone who doubts the truth of that statement has a dent in their brainpan.

[USFRIENDINVICTORIA]

Compare and contrast the “war on terror”, with WWII. In WWII, whether it be the Pacific theatre, or Europe, establishing a beachhead was a complex, dangerous operation, costing the lives of many servicemen. Meanwhile, Islamists can travel to (still nominally) ‘western’ nations by airliner, or luxury cruise ship. Their advanced deployment, behind enemy (us) lines is then subsidized by the government of the host country, which provides housing, welfare, health care, etc., for as long as required, before activation.

[BilLies]

Thanks. Glad to hear that. I will watch my shoot from the hip comments in the future.

[quimby]

Good article. This paragraph is interesting:

M any U.S. al Qaeda experts inside the intelligence community are also critical of the handling of the documents taken from Osama bin Laden’s Pakistani lair. These experts lobbied to declassify many more than the handful that have thus far been released. Some of those documents that were initially slated to be declassified, according to two U.S. intelligence officials, were letters between leaders of Boko Haram and bin Laden. In other words, they showed that the Nigerian terror group, now infamous for its mass kidnappings, was tied to al Qaeda’s leader. Those records are still being kept under wraps. Rep. Devin Nunes, a Republican on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, has openly called on the Obama administration to declassify all of the documents.

[itsahoot]

Barry is getting rid of the NSA.

Neither will any one else of either party, not even Runt Paul if given the opportunity, too much power there.

[Southack]

Rubbish article that wants to convince mindless college lefties that 0bama is opposed to the CIA.

In reality, 0bama *is* CIA. 0bama worked for BIC. 0bama has his drone Kill List.