Sandy Berger Headlines
Komen flap reveals liberal media bias, encroaches on rights, columnists say February 6, 2012, 8:03 am CST The mainstream media is drawing criticism from its own for what's seen as a pro-choice bias in the reporting of the ongoing... |
Komen flap reveals liberal media bias, encroaches on rights, columnists say February 6, 2012, 7:49 am CST The mainstream media is drawing criticism from its own for what's seen as a pro-choice bias in the reporting of the ongoing... |
Liberal media bias can't be denied February 6, 2012, 6:13 am CST Re "Liberal media image doesn't reflect what is being reported," (Viewpoints, Feb. 4) |
Media bias, Catholic controversy, presidential campaign February 5, 2012, 9:34 am CST The other bias |
Hamed Shafia files appeal in honour killing verdict February 2, 2012, 5:34 am CST The trial that ended with Hamed Shafia behind bars for the murder of four members of his family was afflicted by media bias and hearsay evidence, says his lawyer — who confirmed Tuesday he is appealing his client's first-degree murder ... |
Hamed Shafia files appeal in honour killing verdict January 31, 2012, 5:04 pm CST The trial that ended with Hamed Shafia behind bars for the murder of four members of his family was afflicted by media bias and hearsay evidence, says his lawyer — who confirmed Tuesday he is appealing his client's first-degree murder ... |
Insiders: Pentagon's Budget Cuts Are Pragmatic for Changing Times February 6, 2012, 7:30 am CST Three-quarters of National Journal’s National Security Insiders said the Obama administration’s plan to cut the Pentagon budget was a smart decision driven by the end of the Iraq war and the nation’s current fiscal crisis, ... |
Grasping a new reality February 4, 2012, 11:33 pm CST WASHINGTON — First, they had to get the handshake right. Two decades earlier in Geneva, Chinese Premier Zhou En-lai had been mortally offended when U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles spurned his offered hand. As TV cameras flashed ... |
Back Pocket
- The Samuel “Sandy” Berger Scandals
(Feb 03, 2007)
- The Events Leading to the Sandy Berger Scandal
(Jan 30, 2007)
- Twirling the Cognitive Kaleidoscope
(Jan 25, 2006)
- Be Vigilant
(Jan 23, 2006)
- Nuclear Saber Rattling
(Jan 22, 2006)
- John Stossel takes flak over Education Spending
(Jan 18, 2006)
- Kennedy's Children's Book
(Jan 17, 2006)
- Specter Walks the Line
(Jan 15, 2006)
- You say Alito I say Alioto
(Jan 09, 2006)
- 10 Foolish Myths
(Dec 28, 2005)
Past Articles
- Tuesday, December 27
- A Pay Raise for Senator PorkBarrel (0)
- Thursday, December 01
- Iraq Strategy: Executive Summary (13)
- Wednesday, November 09
- The Fair Tax - An Overview (0)
- Monday, September 12
- Take Back the Memorial (37)
- Friday, September 09
- Presidents are not perfect (37)
- Katrina Relief Effort (0)
- Saturday, September 03
- Hillary Clinton: Democrats Are Betting On the Wrong Horse (78)
- Friday, September 02
- Instantly Pinpoint Your Political Identity (38)
- Friday, August 26
- Pat Robertson the Assasinator... (43)
- Thursday, August 25
- You can lead the media to a proud military mom, but you can't make them think. (19)
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Posted by: archiveguard on Aug 01, 2005 - 11:39 PM
In our Interviews
In our interviews, some military officers repeatedly invoked the analogy of
Desert One and the failed 1980 hostage rescue mission in Iran.146
They were dubious about a quick strike approach to using Special Operations
Forces, which they thought complicated and risky. Such efforts would have
required bases in the region, but all the options were unappealing. Pro-Taliban
elements of Pakistan's military might warn Bin Ladin or his associates of
pending operations. With nearby basing options limited, an alternative was to
fly from ships in the Arabian Sea or from land bases in the Persian Gulf, as was
done after 9/11. Such operations would then have to be supported from long
distances, overflying the airspace of nations that might not have been
supportive or aware of U.S. efforts.147
However, if these hurdles were addressed, and if the military could then
operate regularly in the region for a long period, perhaps clandestinely, it
might attempt to gather intelligence and wait for an opportunity. One Special
Operations commander said his view of actionable intelligence was that if you
"give me the action, I will give you the intelligence."148
But this course would still be risky, in light both of the difficulties already
mentioned and of the danger that U.S. operations might fail disastrously. We
have found no evidence that such a long-term political-military approach for
using Special Operations Forces in the region was proposed to or analyzed by the
Small Group, even though such capability had been honed for at least a decade
within the Defense Department.
Therefore the debate looked to some like bold proposals from civilians
meeting hypercaution from the military. Clarke saw it this way. Of the military,
he said to us, "They were very, very, very reluctant."149
But from another perspective, poorly informed proposals for bold action were
pitted against experienced professional judgment. That was how Secretary of
Defense Cohen viewed it. He said to us: "I would have to place my judgment
call in terms of, do I believe that the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, former
commander of Special Forces command, is in a better position to make a judgment
on the feasibility of this than, perhaps, Mr. Clarke?"150
Beyond a large-scale political-military commitment to build up a covert or
clandestine capability using American personnel on the ground, either military
or CIA, there was a still larger option that could have been considered-invading
Afghanistan itself. Every official we questioned about the possibility of an
invasion of Afghanistan said that it was almost unthinkable, absent a
provocation such as 9/11, because of poor prospects for cooperation from
Pakistan and other nations and because they believed the public would not
support it. Cruise missiles were and would remain the only military option on
the table.
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