Beyond Incompetence
The classified reports that are being leaked to news organizations go far beyond accidental missteps ala war-critic Richard "Stone Age" Armitage. The New York Times has been particularly malicious in releasing information they knew to be classified and hiding behind "Freedom of the Press." Well, maybe the federal government cannot prosecute the New York Times for publishing information that they came by through no malfeasance of their own. But the government can and should prosecute those who leaked it.
The initial leak-based report of the most recent national intelligence assessment was incomplete anyway. And anywone who thinks that the recommendations about prosecuting war on terrorists is simple enough to be based on a headline or a couple of sentences has an unrealistic view on life and cannot be trusted with pen and paper, let alone a printing press.
The crux of the argument is not really news anyway. The assertion by the intelligence community--that the war in Iraq is being used by terrorists as a recruitment tool--is not a mystery. To act as if what this reality, which has always been understood, validates their opposition to the war smacks of dishonesty. The terrorists hate us and are always looking for ways to replenish their ranks. They need to do that because we keep killing them.
The law of averages suggests they will achieve some measure of success no matter what rationale they use, but the Iraq issue is uniquely effective for a whole host of reasons, including a deep-harbored fear among many of the manipulated ill-informed that the U.S. is trying to run a 21st century Crusade against Islam. Al Quaeda is decentralized because we have killed or captured many of their leaders and we keep disrupting their attempts to organize.
Of course, this has natural consequences in the short term. As we literally and figuratively blow them to smithereens, it will be difficult to find all of the widely dispersed pieces (and this is, the estimate indicates, a desireable short-term goal). However, that dispersement poses particular challenges for a nation as large as ours, given the terrorists' proclivity to hide themselves behind civilians. It is right and proper that we recognize these consequences, for they speak to the nature of terrorism and the natural difficulties in fighting it.
The war against terrorists cannot be won without recognizing its difficulties. But the more obvious truth is that it cannot be won if we give up once we discover it will be difficult. This much is expressed in the supposedly damning document, which states:
Duty to preservation of freedom requires our nation destroy rebellions against the rule of law. Now is not the time to flounder. Now is the time to stand firm, and although there's nothing in the leaked information that warrants classification, those who did leak it should be treated as the traitors they are.
The initial leak-based report of the most recent national intelligence assessment was incomplete anyway. And anywone who thinks that the recommendations about prosecuting war on terrorists is simple enough to be based on a headline or a couple of sentences has an unrealistic view on life and cannot be trusted with pen and paper, let alone a printing press.
The crux of the argument is not really news anyway. The assertion by the intelligence community--that the war in Iraq is being used by terrorists as a recruitment tool--is not a mystery. To act as if what this reality, which has always been understood, validates their opposition to the war smacks of dishonesty. The terrorists hate us and are always looking for ways to replenish their ranks. They need to do that because we keep killing them.
The law of averages suggests they will achieve some measure of success no matter what rationale they use, but the Iraq issue is uniquely effective for a whole host of reasons, including a deep-harbored fear among many of the manipulated ill-informed that the U.S. is trying to run a 21st century Crusade against Islam. Al Quaeda is decentralized because we have killed or captured many of their leaders and we keep disrupting their attempts to organize.
Of course, this has natural consequences in the short term. As we literally and figuratively blow them to smithereens, it will be difficult to find all of the widely dispersed pieces (and this is, the estimate indicates, a desireable short-term goal). However, that dispersement poses particular challenges for a nation as large as ours, given the terrorists' proclivity to hide themselves behind civilians. It is right and proper that we recognize these consequences, for they speak to the nature of terrorism and the natural difficulties in fighting it.
The war against terrorists cannot be won without recognizing its difficulties. But the more obvious truth is that it cannot be won if we give up once we discover it will be difficult. This much is expressed in the supposedly damning document, which states:
If democratic reform efforts in Muslim majority nations progress over the next five years, political participation probably would drive a wedge between intransigent extremists groups willing to use the political process to acheive their local objectives...
Duty to preservation of freedom requires our nation destroy rebellions against the rule of law. Now is not the time to flounder. Now is the time to stand firm, and although there's nothing in the leaked information that warrants classification, those who did leak it should be treated as the traitors they are.
posted by Cameron Beck at 6:56 AM
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