American Cycles of Despair and Hope

US Defense Secretary Gates wants Spy Agencies to focus on Hearts and Minds instead of killing insurgents

Gates backs critique of spy agencies in Afghanistan
Adam Entous
WASHINGTON Reuters
Thu Jan 7, 2010 11:11pm EST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates threw his support on Thursday behind a harsh critique of the U.S. military's spy agencies in Afghanistan, increasing pressure on them to shift focus from killing insurgents to winning hearts and minds.

The rare public critique by U.S. Major General Michael Flynn, deputy chief of staff for intelligence for U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, put a spotlight on what some American officials describe as a behind-the-scenes tug-of-war within the U.S. military and intelligence community over priorities.

In his report, Flynn described U.S. intelligence officers and analysts in Afghanistan as "ignorant of local economics and landowners, hazy about who the powerbrokers are and how they might be influenced ... and disengaged from people in the best position to find answers."

While the U.S. military's focus has shifted under President Barack Obama to mounting a counterinsurgency campaign aimed at sidelining the Taliban by winning over the Afghan people, Flynn said the intelligence community was instead still focused on capturing and killing mid- to high-level insurgents.

U.S. hunt-and-kill operations on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, frequently using unmanned aerial drones armed with missiles, have been condemned by human rights groups and have fueled anti-American sentiment.

Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said Gates found Flynn's analysis "brilliant" and his findings "spot on."

But Morrell said Gates had "real reservations about the general's choice of venue for publication." Flynn's report was issued on Monday by a private Washington think tank, surprising Pentagon officials.

Some saw it as a breach of the established military chain of command and an unusually public flogging of intelligence agencies that Flynn is meant to lead in Afghanistan.

Flynn said in his report that he had directed intelligence officers and analysts to gather more information on a wider range of issues at a grass-roots level, as well as to divide their work along geographical lines.

Pentagon officials said the report was aimed at intelligence agencies overseen by the Defense Department, and not the CIA, which has overseen strikes against Taliban and al Qaeda targets along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

"This is internal criticism. It is not directed at our colleagues elsewhere in the intelligence community," Morrell said.

Release of the report came less than a week after a suicide bomber killed seven CIA officers at a U.S. base in eastern Afghanistan, the second-most deadly attack in agency history.

Al Qaeda's Afghan wing claimed responsibility for the bombing on Thursday, saying it was launched to avenge the deaths of the group's leaders. Some of them were killed in CIA drone strikes.

An intelligence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, defended the focus of U.S. spy agencies on insurgents, saying: "You can't be successful at counterinsurgency without a profound understanding of the enemy."

(Editing by Anthony Boadle and Eric Beech)

Is the US Waking Up to the Real Obama?

Remember these thigh tingling words?




So, is the American Public beginning to to see the real Obama? Maybe not yet, but little by little this fraud will be exposed. Some of the press, and in greater numbers, are beginning to get the message.

Obama Pledging a more open administration

Sorry about the rapid change in posting, but no half as sorry as Obama's keeping his campaign pledges. Change you can believe in.

More on triple agent CIA killer- The Jordan Connection

January 6, 2010
Triple agent was 'CIA's best hope for years'
Rana Sabbagh-Gargourin in Amman

The Jordanian suicide bomber who killed several CIA agents in Afghanistan last week was so highly regarded by Western intelligence that the White House had been told to expect important information from his debriefing, it was reported today.

Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi, 36, a Jordanian doctor, had been recommended to the Americans by Jordanian intelligence as a reliable informant spying on the al-Qaeda leadership, according to the New York Times.

He was seen by the CIA and the US Administration as the American intelligence agencies' best hope of tracking down Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri, the leaders of al-Qaeda.

This would explain why there were eight people present in the room with Mr al-Balawi to hear his debriefing. According to former CIA officials, debriefings are usually attended by only one or two intelligence staff.

"He had provided information that checked out, about people in al-Qaeda whom he had access to," a senior intelligence official, told the newspaper. "This was one of the agency’s most promising efforts."

In fact, al-Balawi was not a double but a triple agent, leading an extraordinary life on the frontline of America’s war against militant Islam.

An investigation by The Times has revealed that the trainee doctor was an open and public supporter of al-Qaeda, and that his months of secret work for Jordanian intelligence, feeding a stream of information about low-level al-Qaeda operatives to his handler, was a means to establish his credibility.

On December 30 al-Balawi arrived at Forward Operating Base Chapman in Khost province near the Pakistan border. He was trusted sufficiently to be allowed past a security checkpoint without being searched.

He detonated explosives strapped to his body and killed four CIA agents, three CIA security officers, and his Jordanian handler, Ali bin Zaid, an army captain and distant cousin of King Abdullah II of Jordan. The King, his wife, and other members of the Jordanian royal family attended Mr bin Zaid’s funeral on Friday.

The chain of events began a few months ago, when al-Balawi contacted Jordan's spy agency, the General Intelligence Department (GID), with tips that proved valuable. A Jordanian official admitted yesterday that the information on al-Qaeda operatives in the kingdom had "allowed us to abort a terrorist operation that would have threatened the security and stability of our country".

On the face of it al-Balawi seemed a valuable recruit. Born in Kuwait on December 25, 1977, he moved to Jordan with his family after Iraq invaded in 1991 — a time when many Jordanians were forced to flee the emirate. His father owns two pharmacies in Zarqa in Jordan, also the home town of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq who was killed in 2006.

The al-Balawi Bedu tribe is from Tabuk, in western Saudi Arabia, and has branches in Jordan, the West Bank and the Sinai Peninsula.

According to records of the Jordan Medical Association, al-Balawi graduated from Istanbul University in 2002. He then worked as an intern in two hospitals, one run by the Muslim Brotherhood charity. He went on to practise medicine at a clinic in a Palestinian refugee camp near Zarqa.

Al-Balawi became attracted to militant Islam and moderated the online radical Islamic forum, Hisbah.net, based in Yemen, often saying that his ultimate dream in life was to die as a martyr in the holy war against the US and Israel.

In an interview on September 26 last year al-Balawi said he had "been moulded on the love for jihad since my childhood". He vowed to "take up arms, and to wear an explosive belt, to avenge the killing of children and women in the Gaza War".

He also said that he decided to leave his pro-jihadist writings in favour of "real jihad on the ground, because I came to realise that preaching about jihad is not enough ... You have to carry out jihad in practice."

He said that he hoped to meet all jihadist writers who shared his vision and contributed to jihadist websites "in al-Fardous" — the Arabic for Paradise.

To Jordanian intelligence, these jihadi credentials must have seemed the perfect cover. The GID checked al-Balawi out and decided that he was genuine. The official said that al-Balawi had been interrogated by officers from the GID in March 2009 because of suspicions about his activities. He had been released because the inquiry found "nothing relevant".

"Months later he contacted us via e-mail and provided information about ill intentions against Jordan, and allowed us to foil terrorist operations targeting the kingdom. So we decided to pursue our contacts with him on a friendly basis to safeguard our country," the official told The Times.

Jihadist websites, however, revealed that al-Balawi was working for his handlers' enemies. They said that the GID, believing the bomber to be its double agent, took him to eastern Afghanistan, to help to track Ayman al-Zawahiri, the Egyptian physician said to be second-in-command of al-Qaeda, who US intelligence officials believe is hiding in the lawless border region.

Jordan has had strong intelligence co-operation with the CIA since the 9/11 attacks. Its counter-terror teams operating inside Iraq helped US forces in 2006 to track and kill al-Zarqawi. It is thought that Jordan believed al-Balawi could help the US to trap and kill al-Zawahiri.

Mohammad Abu Rumman, a prominent Jordanian analyst of radical Islamic movements, said that al-Balawi, a member of the younger generation of jihadists, was heavily influenced by Osama bin Laden, al-Zarqawi, the US-led war on Iraq and the Israeli attack against Gaza in 2008.

"He is one of the key al-Qaeda spokesmen," said Abu Rumman. "He always called for jihad against the Americans and the Israelis." Jihadist websites said al-Balawi was also nicknamed "the doctor of Mujahidin". They said that he was the first Arab to join the Taleban in Pakistan.

Al-Balawi, also known as Abu Dujana al-Khorasani, was married to a Turkish woman, said by relatives to be a journalist, and had two young daughters. His immediate family lives in Nuzha, a mixed middle and working-class neighbourhood in Amman.

A high school friend, Mohammad Yousef, said al-Balawi told family and friends in March that he was going to Turkey to take an exam that would have allowed him to practise medicine in the US. Instead, he went to Afghanistan, where he joined other Arab fighters with al-Qaeda.

Kennedy Led the Way. Dodd and Dorgan Quitting. Can the GOP Retake the Senate This Year?

Toby Harnden is the Daily Telegraph's US Editor, based in Washington DC. More about Toby. Contact toby.harnden@telegraph-usa.com.

Could Republicans win back the Senate in 2010?

By Toby Harnden World Last updated: January 6th, 2010
Telegraph

A few months ago, anyone suggesting that Republicans might be able to retake the Senate – where they currently have 40 seats compared to the Democrats’ 58 plus two Independents who caucus with Barack Obama’s party – would have been liable to be certified insane.

But with the shock decision of the Senator Byron Dorgan, Democrat of North Dakota, it’s beginning to go from impossible to long shot. Some 34 seats are up for grabs, 18 Republican and 16 Democratic. The GOP needs to pick up 11 seats to secure a majority.

I certainly wouldn’t bet the farm (or even an outbuilding) on a GOP win that gives it 50 seats - far from it. Obama’s poll fortunes would have to continue to slump and absolutely everything would have to go right for Republicans. But just remember that in 2002 just about everything went right Senatewise for the GOP and in 2008 a similar thing happened for Democrats. Here’s how it could happen for the GOP this time around:
Massachusetts, Wisconsin, Hawaii, Indiana, Maryland, New York, Oregon, Vermont and Washington are safe Democratic seats. Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota and Utah are safe GOP seats.

Connecticut (D) – Chris Dodd is highly vulnerable. Likely GOP pick-up. BREAKING NEWS UPDATE 12.05am EST Blimey, Dodd is to announce he won’t seek re-election. Actually, this will give the Dems a much better chance of keeping the seat. Moves it from likely to possible GOP pick-up, I’d say.
Arkansas (D) – Went heavily against Obama in 2008 and Blanche Lincoln has her vote for health-care reform to worry about. Likely GOP pick-up.

North Dakota (D) – Byron Dorgan looks likely to hold his seat but North Dakota is a Republican state and the GOP will fancy its chances, especially if Governor John Hoeven throws his hat into the ring. Likely GOP pick-up.

Nevada (D) – Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid seems to be in big trouble. Possible GOP pick-up.

Colorado (D) – Always a swing state, it looks good for the GOP this time. Possible GOP pick-up.

Delaware (D) – Joe Biden’s state has been reliably Democratic in recent years but moderate GOP candidate Mike Castle has shown his ability to be elected statewide and could well take the veep’s old seat. He also has a sense of humour. Possible GOP pick-up.

Illinois (D) – Barack Obama’s state should be Democratic in any normal year but the Blagojevich fiasco, the Burris fiasco, attorney general Lisa Madigan deciding not to run and a strong GOP candidate in the person of Mark Kirk mean that the GOP could just do it. Possible GOP pick-up.

Pennsylvania (D) – Arlen Specter, who switched from the GOP, has a tough primary against Joe Sestak, who is running to his Left. If he survives that – or even if he doesn’t – Pat Toomey, once considered too conservative for the state, looks a very possible winner winner. Possible GOP pick-up.

California (D) – Here’s where it gets really tough for the Republicans. It’s one of the most liberal states in the Union but the GOP believes that Barbara Boxer’s record may be just a bit too liberal. And Carly Fiorina is a potentially powerful candidate. Losing California would be a Doomsday scenario for Democrats but Republicans can still dream.

If they won all of the above currently Democratic seats, Republicans would still have to also hold New Hampshire, Kentucky, Florida, Louisiana, Ohio and Missouri, all of which have degrees of vulnerability for them.
That would leave them with 49 seats to the Democrats’ 51.

But what if Joe Lieberman (I) flipped to the Republican party? Very possible, particularly if he was induced with a juicy committee chairmanship.

That would mean 50-50. But still Vice-President Joe Biden would hold the casting vote.

Then, as Thinking Independently points out, the Grim Reaper would be needed to secure Republican control. Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia is ailing and 92, though his state has a Democratic governor who would presumably fill the seat with a Democrat. Senator Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey is 86 and healthy but his state now has a GOP governor. And Hawaii’s two Democratic Senators Daniel Akaka and Daniel Inoue look fit enough but they are both 85 and the state where Obama was born (sorry, Birthers) has a Republican governor.

Of course, there’s a strong argument that 60 is the magic number in the Senate and anything less than that is not really control at all – and the closer to 50 you get, the less the degree of control. By that standard, the Democrats will surrender their grasp on the 100-member American House of Lords in a year’s time in any event.

The Irresponsibility of alleged Commander in Chief Obama and Flight 253

Pilot furious at U.S. for silence on bomb
By Steve Danyluk, Special to CNN
January 5, 2010 9:44 a.m. EST


Airline pilot Steve Danyluk was flying over Atlantic during bomb attempt but wasn't notified that there was an ongoing bomb incident. Had there been a coordinated 911 type attack, there would have been a far worse disaster as he and other pilots were not notified.

Did no one in the Obama Administration ask what if?

The pilot only learned about it after landing and said "when I looked at the CNN Web site on my iPhone"

It is worse than the pilot argues because Obama stated empatheticaly that it was an isolated incident and one would assume the President of the United States making such a declaration, would not know what he was talking about. That assumption was wrong.

Obama had no clue. He no sense to ask. He is the alleged Commander in Chief.

_______________________________________

Editor's note: Steve Danyluk is an international first officer for a major U.S. airline and president of The Independence Fund, a nonprofit that supports troops wounded in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

(CNN) -- Following the attempt to bomb a passenger jet on Christmas Day, President Obama said that "once the suspect attempted to take down Flight 253, it's clear Homeland Security and Aviation Security took all appropriate actions."

I am a commercial airline pilot who was deep over the Atlantic flying from St. Kitts and Nevis for nearly six hours on Christmas Day following the attempted bombing on Flight 253.

I only learned about the incident after landing when I looked at the CNN Web site on my iPhone. I'm justifiably furious that I was not notified while airborne.

Our government clearly dropped the ball. President Obama has ordered a review into the intelligence failures leading up to the attempted Christmas Day bombing by Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab, but an equally important review needs to be made into how events were handled once AbdulMutallab attempted to carry out his plan.
Specifically, why weren't the actions the Transportation Safety Administration outlines in our aviation manuals initiated, and what took place inside the federal Domestic Events Network in the immediate aftermath of the terror attempt?

Following the 9/11 review, the DEN was given the task of instituting new procedures for controllers on how to communicate information about suspicious aircraft throughout the system.

Why ... was the information concerning the incident available to me only on my iPhone?
--Steve Danyluk, commercial pilot

The Washington-based DEN Operations Center is supposed to allow federal agencies with jurisdiction over the security of U.S. airspace to communicate information in real time. So why, after eight years and billions of dollars, was the information concerning the incident available to me only on my iPhone?

Like many commercial pilots, I flew in the military. There, each squadron maintains something called a pre-mishap plan. Basically, it's a three-ring binder with a series of actions the watch officer is supposed to take when a mishap happens.

It's a very useful tool -- but only if the officer who is assigned to carry out the plan is familiar with the binder's contents. Good commanding officers run simulated mishap drills within their squadrons to ensure their junior officers effectively execute the plan.

I'm left with the sickening sense that after 9/11, the government spent horrific amounts of money to create the "mother of all" pre-mishap plans, but never effectively tested it. Why? Because unlike the military, where commanding officers rise up through the ranks based on professional competency, our government operates on a different model.

How else does one explain the failed governmental response to natural disasters like Katrina, or man-made disasters like the Christmas Day bombing attempt?

The silver lining is that AbdulMutallab's failed attempt gave us that test of the response system. It can only be attributed to luck that unlike 9/11, this was not a coordinated attack involving multiple aircraft.

Now that the gaping holes in our response have been exposed, let's do a thorough review of what took place on Flight 253 and ensure we have professionals in decision-making positions who will execute the plan if this happens again.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Steve Danyluk.

US Reopens Embassy in Yemen

It is currently being reported that the US has reopened the embassy in Yemen. What was that all about?

Here is an interesting piece and background report on the current situation in Yemen. As usual there are several points of view and some radical differences. Two of the commentators claim there are less than 400 al Quaeda in Yemen and a new massive US footprint will be counterproductive. That seems to be par for the course.

One of the claims is that Saudi Arabia has far more al Qaeda members than Yemen. Shocked and dismayed are you at that stunning revelation?

Bill Roggio thinks that the problem in Yemen is almost too complicated to do anything and admits he has no answer. That would be interesting to hear from Obama.

Michael Griffin, an expert on al Qaeda reccommends to find the money trail that funds al Qaeda, which in his words clearly leads back to Saudi Arabia. See a trend developing since almost all the 911 attackers were Saudis?

Roggio, discussing the existing Guantanamo detainees, thinks that the Obama Administration will regret their widely publicised policy of closing Guantanmo and will have to reconsider and back down.

Oh dear.