News you may have missed #0112
September 21, 2009 Leave a comment
- Obama refuses to halt CIA probe. Arguing that “nobody’s above the law”, the US President has rejected a request by seven former heads of the CIA to end the inquiry into abuse of suspects held by the Agency.
- Naval intel agent caught spying on famous Philippine artist. Philippine prizewinning poet, critic and dramatist Bienvenido Lumbera says he will file a complaint against the Philippines armed forces over the apprehension of a Naval Intelligence Security Force agent, who was caught spying outside his home. The country’s government is supposedly concentrating (with US logistical, intelligence and combat assistance) on fighting the Muslim separatist Moro ethnic group (including the Abu Sayyaf Group) in the south, but it is apparently spying on artists and intellectuals on the side.
















Analysis: Is Afghanistan really important in the “war on terrorism”?
September 22, 2009 by intelNews 1 Comment
Paul P. Pillar
By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
The Deputy Chief of the CIA’s Counterterrorism Center from 1997 to 1999, Paul Pillar, has authored an interesting editorial in which he asks “how important are physical havens to terrorist groups, such as al-Qaeda?”. The answer: not very. Writing in The Washington Post, Pillar points out that the main unstated assumption behind the US invasion of Afghanistan, namely that the country must not be allowed to again become a haven for terrorist groups, is incompatible with what we know about how such groups organize. If they are offered a haven, groups such as al-Qaeda will use it for basic training of recruits, says Pillar. But operations planning and training does not require such a base, nor is such a center crucial for successful execution of operations. Read more of this post
Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with 9/11, Afghanistan, Afghanistan War, al-Qaeda, Analysis, CIA, CIA Counterterrorism Center, counterterrorism, Germany, Paul P. Pillar, Spain, terrorism, United States, War on Terrorism