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2004-04-30 Home Front: WoT
Robert Baer - The Intelligence War
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Posted by John 2004-04-30 12:46:42 PM|| || Front Page|| [6 views since 2007-05-07]  Top

#1 He knows what he is talking about.

Our "play nice" policies under the adminstation from 1992 to 2000 destroyed a lot of capacity for intelligence gathering. And worse, it destroyed the kind of ground-laying operatives that are imperative for re-establishment of effective operations in many sectors.

Relying on non-intrustive measures, third party, and lobbing cruise missles is no way to conduct operations. Except if you are risk averse, ignroant and do not like or trust the Armed Forces and Intelligence Services of the US.

And THAT was the biggest mistake of all that the CLintons made: they didnt liek or trust the military or intelligence. The former they used as a social experimentation group (integrated boot camps, ets) and abused as police (turning war fighters into peace keepers is the best way to destroy fighting capability), and the latter the hobbled with operational restrictions, crippled by encasing in vertical chains of command subdividing agencies further ("divide and conquer"), and withering away by chopping budget and legal authority for any in-situ operational personnel.

We are paying the price for the neglect and abuse of the Clinton years. Only instead of dollars, now we are paying the dues in the blood of US service members.
Posted by OldSpook 2004-04-30 1:10:51 PM||   2004-04-30 1:10:51 PM|| Front Page Top

#2 FYI:

Good intelligence is built on time, money and blood. The more of two that you have, the less you need of the remaining one. Reagan wisely put in money and time in large amounts. Bush I cut some of the money and time and traded off for blood in GWI (That and listened to state department weenies).

Clinton threw away the time (experience), and chopped the money, leaving us only blood to pay with. Which we have done starting with 9/11.

The current President is throwing money and blood into the mix, since he has no time left to spend (we threw it awy int he 1990's).

My only problem is that Rumsfeld and Congress are trying to still go cheap on the money: deploying less troops, not raising an additional active duty division, using Humvees instead of armor, etc, all of which add up to us having to to pay more in blood.
Posted by OldSpook 2004-04-30 1:15:40 PM||   2004-04-30 1:15:40 PM|| Front Page Top

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