The Central "Intelligence" Agency
Con Coughlin writes in the Telegraph that it's the fault of the CIA that flying has become such a nightmare lately:
In Saudi Arabia last September, a suicide bomber went one better than Abdulmutallab and concealed an explosive device in his anal cavity. One shudders to think how British security officials would respond after a similar attempt here.Security checks at airports undoubtedly serve their purpose in protecting flights from terrorist attacks, but they have their limits. By far the best way to prevent al-Qaeda from achieving its objectives is to have good intelligence, as was the case in the 2006 Heathrow plot. And the main reason the world's transport network has again been plunged into chaos is that Abdulmutallab's attempt to blow up a Northwest Airlines flight as it prepared to land at Detroit on Christmas Day was as much a failure of intelligence as a mark of al-Qaeda's resourcefulness.
...And, as if Abdulmutallab's bombing attempt was not a crushing blow for the CIA's morale, the organisation is also trying to come to terms with a suicide bomb attack that killed seven CIA officers last month at their base at Khost, close to Afghanistan's border with Pakistan. US officials say that those killed included five of their leading experts on al-Qaeda, who agreed to attend the meeting because they believed they would receive key information as to the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden.
Instead, it now appears they were set up by the Haqqani clan, the pro-Taliban tribe that is widely held to be protecting bin Laden and the rest of the al-Qaeda leadership in north-west Pakistan. The CIA officers were so convinced of the bona fides of their source, a Jordanian doctor, that they did not even bother with basic security procedures - such as searching his belongings - before allowing him on to the base, with the inevitable catastrophic consequences.
If this is how the CIA takes care of its own security, we should not be surprised by its failure to address that of the wider public. Professional and effective intelligence-gathering lies at the heart of the battle to defeat Islamist extremists. Unless there is an immediate improvement in the approach and performance of the world's largest intelligence-gathering operation, we stand little chance of success.
Commenter Leo on the Telegraph site writes:
I wonder how long it'll be before an attempt is made, in the vicinity of a western airport, to bring down an airliner with a surface-to-air missile.What will happen then - all houses and businesses within five miles of an airport to be razed to the ground?
Here's commenter AC from the Telegraph site:
Nev Cooper asks about the ESTA - pre travel authorisation - and asks why it appears to not have been insisted upon with the detroit bomber. I have recently had to fill out those details myself for travel to the US, and it relies on the honesty on the person filling it out. I cannot quite recall the phrasing, but it asks you if you are planning a terrorist attack or are a member of a terrorist group. Um, perhaps the bomber ticked 'no'.? It is like the various forms I filled out when I was applying for residency here. It asks me if I have ever commited war crimes, or if i am a terrorist. The answer to all these things is no, but do you think potential terrorists are sitting there scratching their heads saying 'well, I had better answer truthfully'? Obviously not.
Oh, how satisfying it is, the idea that a Federal agency, one mysterious and unaccountable to us, is at fault, and the entire reason for a large amount of American misery!
And how wrong.
The reason is looking at us in bathroom mirrors all over the nation every morning. We, the people, decided that someone else should be responsible for us again and again. It is we who are constantly shocked by the indifference of public servants who ignore us while doing their jobs exactly, precisely, by the book we insist they follow. It is we who think we can pay someone to shoot and be shot at in our defense, at home and abroad, while we sit and enjoy television programs also disconnected from reality.
We think the President controls the budget and that Congress does what he says - or that Congress does nothing good. And we elected both.
It is my direct experience that people who have not served on submarines make up reams of fiction about them on their own. Thus, I refuse to state that one agency is at fault for anything when I can find no reliable description of that agency's operation.
You've seen Internet pleas to fight the cost of gasoline by boycotting a chain of gas stations. Well, fewer people fly than drive. You want to force TSA to be smart? The answer's not to point out the tons of stuff Americans carry and used to carry on aircraft without incident; it's not in agreeing with TSA that your neighbors are homicidal lunatics bent on bringing the plane down each and every time they fly. Just Don't Fly.
I suggest 4/1/10 as the American No Fly Day.
The problem with "free" speech is that it doesn't cost anything. Action speaks louder precisely because it costs more.
Ante up.
And think about why the US has these problems. Think hard.
Radwaste at January 8, 2010 6:17 AM
April Fool's Day...really? OK I'm in, I pledge not to fly on April 1st.
The Link at January 8, 2010 12:29 PM
"but do you think potential terrorists are sitting there scratching their heads saying 'well, I had better answer truthfully'? Obviously not." - Radwaste
yeah, there are laws beyond measure that are all about asking the criminals to do something so that they can be law abiding... oh, wait. They are criminals, they don't care. Jihadis are different?
The elephant looks something like: eventually someone will walk into one of these huge long airport screening lines... and off themselves and everyone within a blast radius. What is the security answer for that? That might well be as disruptive or more than anything else they could do.
We have to figure out the intel thing. It's about the only answer...
SwissArmyD at January 8, 2010 12:59 PM
SwissArmyD, that wasn't me - but I'll use this opportunity to point out that similar questions are also on Form 4473D, which you must fill out each and every time you buy a firearm from a licensed dealer. Of course, you will fill the form out in order to get what you want, not to be denied.
Radwaste at January 8, 2010 3:31 PM
> We, the people, decided that someone else
> should be responsible for us again and
> again. It is we who are constantly
> shocked by the indifference of
> public servants
How come you can say that and get off scot-free, but when I make fun of their mandibular undercarriage, Tressider hounds me mercilessly?
You're completely correct, by the way. I sure don't think "the intel thing" can be fixed. Intel is only good for investigation after an attack.
Crid [CridComment at gmail] at January 10, 2010 11:17 PM
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