Article

2011-07-16 Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Former CIA ME Case Officer Sez Israel Atx Iran This Sept

Archived material is restricted to Rantburg regulars and members. If you need access email fred.pruitt=at=gmail.com with your nick to be added to the members list. There is no charge to join Rantburg as a member.

Posted by Anonymoose 2011-07-16 10:47|| || Front Page|| [7 views ] Top

#1 Baer didn't name sources for his prediction of an Israeli attack

I wonder why?

Posted by g(r)omgoru 2011-07-16 14:39|| 2011-07-16 14:39|| Front Page Top

#2 Mr.Baer's Wikipedia page is revealing. A CIA Middle East expert who

is fluent in Arabic, French, German, Persian, as well as his native English. He is also conversant in Russian, Tajik, and Baluch.

But not Hebrew, which isn't difficult to learn after acquiring Arabic, indicating a certain worldview. He is of a certain age as well, and likely is about as comfortable with computers as I, ie. an end user. A dear, old-fashioned, simple man who thinks in terms of straightforward rubble bouncing and political assassinations instead of recognizing Stuxnet and contaminated uranium as successful attacks in their own right. Compare his perspective to that of Prime Minister Netanyahu, whose thesis for his Management MS from MIT was about the impact of computerization on the newspaper industry.

Another way to think about it is that some people change their countries from military to economic/military/scientific powerhouses, while others get pulled from their clandestine assignments in Iraq for trying to organize the assassination of Saddam Hussein al Tikriti, even if both have written books about Islamic terrorism.

Posted by trailing wife 2011-07-16 14:41|| 2011-07-16 14:41|| Front Page Top

#3 A dear, old-fashioned, simple man who thinks in terms of straightforward rubble bouncing and political assassinations...

Not only is that what it's going to come to, but that is what is needed. Bouncing of rubble and serious wet work with extreme prejudice and malice aforethought. Just about everywhere.

Posted by Secret Asian Man 2011-07-16 15:57|| 2011-07-16 15:57|| Front Page Top

#4 "Our special forces are already looking at Iranian targets in Iraq and across the border (in Iran) which we would strike. What we're facing here is an escalation, rather than a planned out-and-out war...it's a nightmare scenario. We don't have enough troops in the Middle East to fight a war like that. I think we are looking into the abyss," he said.

I agree with his assessment, with or without the attack prediction. Such a scenario could have very frightening second order effects for the United States.

Posted by Besoeker 2011-07-16 16:41|| 2011-07-16 16:41|| Front Page Top

#5 And the options for Israel are? Especially with Obama as President of the US?

Posted by tipover 2011-07-16 21:22|| 2011-07-16 21:22|| Front Page Top

#6 And the options for Israel are? Especially with Obama as President of the US?

Samson.

Posted by Secret Asian Man 2011-07-16 23:00|| 2011-07-16 23:00|| Front Page Top

23:32 Pappy
23:00 Secret Asian Man
22:55 Zhang Fei
22:01 Griting Smith6978
21:22 tipover
20:57 JosephMendiola
20:50 JosephMendiola
20:47 JosephMendiola
20:41 JosephMendiola
19:59 rjschwarz
18:49 swksvolFF
18:44 CincinnatusChili
18:43 Mitch H.
18:41 trailing wife
18:38 phil_b
18:29 Mitch H.
18:28 trailing wife
18:21 swksvolFF
18:18 Mitch H.
18:17 swksvolFF
18:03 Omerese White1959
17:59 Omerese White1959
17:54 Omerese White1959
17:47 trailing wife