George Woodrow Wilson Bush
I've long noted the irony that neo-conservatism is the furthest thing from conservatism. In fact, it is the logical successor to Woodrow Wilson's imperialistic vision. John Ikenberry uses the just-past 150th anniversary of Wilson's birth and impending 88th anniversary of his 14 Points speech to reflect on the legacy of the 28th President of the United States. He ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on January 4, 2007 14:02
Prominent Iraq War Critics: Stay the Course
Via Andrew Cochran, I see that the Bush administration's terrorism policy is getting endorsement from two incredibly unlikely sources. Former CIA bin Laden hunter Michael Scheuer, whose Imperial Hubris made him the darling on leftist critics of the Bush and his Iraq War policy (granted, mostly those who hadn't bothered to read the book) argued in Wednesday's Washington Times that ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on October 27, 2006 13:41
NIE: Iraq War Spawned New Generation of Terrorists
The National Intelligence Estimate concludes that the Iraq War has spawned a new generation of terrorists. A stark assessment of terrorism trends by American intelligence agencies has found that the American invasion and occupation of Iraq has helped spawn a new generation of Islamic radicalism and that the overall terrorist threat has grown since the Sept. 11 attacks. The classified National Intelligence ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on September 24, 2006 08:50
Blame America Second
Jim Henley believes a recent post of mine was too dismissive of Andy Rooney's foreign policy analysis. Joyner: "Andy Rooney explains why the [9/11] tragedy was really our fault:" Americans are puzzled over why so many people in the world hate us. We seem so nice to ourselves. They do hate us though. We know that and we’re trying to protect ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on September 13, 2006 15:08
C.I.A. Closes Bin Laden Unit
The CIA has quietly shut down its bin Laden hunting unit. The Central Intelligence Agency has closed a unit that for a decade had the mission of hunting Osama bin Laden and his top lieutenants, intelligence officials confirmed Monday. The unit, known as Alec Station, was disbanded late last year and its analysts reassigned within the C.I.A. Counterterrorist Center, the officials ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on July 4, 2006 10:23
CIA Breaks its Code of Silence
Noam Scheiber has an engaging piece at TNR today looking at how the organizational culture of the CIA has evolved over recent years to the point where ex-employees are now constantly speaking out against administration policies. He points to the cases of retired analyst Ray McGovern, head of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity, who famously got into a shouting match ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on June 2, 2006 12:41
On Bureaucrats as Pundits
In Dr. Joyner's post about former government officers becoming pundits, I had a bit of a disagreement with him in the comments section. Perhaps part of that is protecting my own "rice bowl" as I'm a former State officer and now comment about my areas of interest/specialization. That I'm not among the talking heads constantly on CNN doesn't really affect ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on February 17, 2006 11:53
Ex-CIA Officers as Pundits
Guillermo Christensen argues that the recent trend of retired and retiring CIA officers entering the public debate will diminish the long-term credibility of the Agency. The latest example is a piece by Paul Pillar in the current Foreign Affairs which Christensen rebuts. More important than the content of these books and op-eds, though, is the message it sends ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on February 17, 2006 07:18
Why American Muslims Stay Silent
Stephen Schwartz asks the titular question, "Why American Muslims Stay Silent." The column under that headline is interesting but only obliquely answers the question. Four years after September 11, 2001, numerous non-Muslim Americans repeatedly ask, âWhy do American Muslims stay silent in the face of extremism and terrorism? Why do they not act to cleanse their religion of the reputation it ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on December 22, 2005 14:35
Did Administration Used Discredited Source for Iraq War Case?
The New York Times fronts a Douglas Jehl report contends that Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi, a high level al Qaeda prisoner used as a major source by the Bush administration in its attempts to link Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden, was previously identified as unrealiable in a February 2002 Defense Intelligence Agency document. Report Warned Bush Team About Intelligence Suspicions A high ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on November 6, 2005 08:00
