Post by midcan5 on May 4, 2011 17:51:15 GMT -5
Let's give credit where credit is due, Obama, and this adminstration's focus on capturing OBL, did what Bush Cheney could not, he/they did not ignore the intelligence reports. Had Bush paid attention to the intel prior to 911, we may not even be having this discussion.
But in a curious way thanks are due to Jimmy Carter as well, it was the failed attempt in Iran that lead to the backup helicopters and a successful operation this time.
"WASHINGTON — For years, the agonizing search for Osama bin Laden kept coming up empty. Then last July, Pakistanis working for the Central Intelligence Agency drove up behind a white Suzuki navigating the bustling streets near Peshawar, Pakistan, and wrote down the car’s license plate."
(...)
"Prisoners in American custody told stories of a trusted courier. When the Americans ran the man’s pseudonym past two top-level detainees — the chief planner of the Sept. 11 attacks, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed; and Al Qaeda’s operational chief, Abu Faraj al-Libi — the men claimed never to have heard his name. That raised suspicions among interrogators that the two detainees were lying and that the courier probably was an important figure." www.nytimes.com/2011/05/03/world/asia/03intel.html?hp
"Mr. Zubaydah was subjected to repeated waterboarding. Senior Federal Bureau of Investigation officials thought such methods unnecessary and unwise. Their agents got Mr. Zubaydah talking without using force and he revealed the central role of Mr. Mohammed in the 9/11 plot. They correctly predicted that harsh methods would darken the nation's reputation and complicate future prosecutions. Many C.I.A. officials also voiced doubts, and the agency used contract employees with military experience for much of the work." topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/c/central_intelligence_agency/cia_interrogations/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier
tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/05/senate-intel-chair-torture-did-not-lead-to-bin-laden-in-any-way.php?ref=tn
But in a curious way thanks are due to Jimmy Carter as well, it was the failed attempt in Iran that lead to the backup helicopters and a successful operation this time.
"WASHINGTON — For years, the agonizing search for Osama bin Laden kept coming up empty. Then last July, Pakistanis working for the Central Intelligence Agency drove up behind a white Suzuki navigating the bustling streets near Peshawar, Pakistan, and wrote down the car’s license plate."
(...)
"Prisoners in American custody told stories of a trusted courier. When the Americans ran the man’s pseudonym past two top-level detainees — the chief planner of the Sept. 11 attacks, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed; and Al Qaeda’s operational chief, Abu Faraj al-Libi — the men claimed never to have heard his name. That raised suspicions among interrogators that the two detainees were lying and that the courier probably was an important figure." www.nytimes.com/2011/05/03/world/asia/03intel.html?hp
"Mr. Zubaydah was subjected to repeated waterboarding. Senior Federal Bureau of Investigation officials thought such methods unnecessary and unwise. Their agents got Mr. Zubaydah talking without using force and he revealed the central role of Mr. Mohammed in the 9/11 plot. They correctly predicted that harsh methods would darken the nation's reputation and complicate future prosecutions. Many C.I.A. officials also voiced doubts, and the agency used contract employees with military experience for much of the work." topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/c/central_intelligence_agency/cia_interrogations/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier
tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/05/senate-intel-chair-torture-did-not-lead-to-bin-laden-in-any-way.php?ref=tn