IN THE MAIL: Michael Sheuer’s Marching Toward Hell: America and Islam After Iraq. Quite a different assessment from, say, this one by Stratfor. Who’s right? We’ll find out, I guess.
Yep. Let’s see if there are any clues to help us make an educated guess. Hmm, how about this:
Amazon.com: Marching Toward Hell: America and Islam After Iraq: Books: Michael Scheuer
A twenty-plus-year CIA veteran, Scheuer headed the agency’s Osama bin Laden unit, managed its covert-action operations, and authored its rendition program. Scheuer spent his career developing strategies to keep America safe, by any means deemed necessary by the presidents he served.
Well, given his tremendous success at either capturing or killing Osama bin Laden, and at keeping America safe (except for, you know, the WTC towers, the Pentagon, and various other planes, ships, and embassies) he must be an expert. You know what they say: If you can’t do, teach. And if you can’t teach, write a book.
More often than not my writings were used by pundits as prime examples of raw America-hating, cowardly appeasement, anachronistic isolationism, and fierce anti-Semitism.
Really? Do tell. And who are you advising these days? Ron Paul?
Submit to Stumbled Upon!
Kind of like the commander in charge of Pearl Harbor lecturing the country of the war effort against Japan.
Sadly there is a large, and from what I can tell, growing contingent of “experts,” who claim that to successfully combat al Qaeda, we have to pander to the bigotry of the Arab world. Scheuer is one of them. Hopefully we have better people at the CIA these days.
Career CIA. Read the blurb at Amazon and you will notice the throwaway line that he recommends we change our position towards Israel as one of the most important adjustments. Now, that was predictable.
In my paleo-conservative fantasies of what-I-would-do- if-I-ran-things, I had always made the Department of Education the first agency I would abolish.
After events of the last 8 years (and half way through Bolton’s book), I’m thinking of moving the CIA and the State Department up to the top of the list.
Scheuer has said and written that he repeatedly urged the killing of Bin Laden and his crew in the 1990s - when they knew where he was in Afghanistan.
As a CIA analyst he really didn’t have the power to order military operations - that was “way above his pay grade” as they say.
So characterizing him as at fault or a “loser” because higher-ups did not take his advice is bullshit.
Scheuer lambastes the Clintons for failing to kill bin Laden, while at the same time defending bin Laden’s mindset and blaming an “Imperial America” and the Jews for most of the problems with Islam.
Screw him. He’s a loser.
Interesting timing on this. DIdn’t he write a book right before the last election also?
had always made the Department of Education the first agency I would abolish.
I’ll do you one better OG. Swap the people in the DoE with the people in the ATF, and tell them to keep doing what they are doing, only within their new jurisdictions. We’d end up with sniveling liers in the NRA’s pocket calling for more money for subsidized booze and gun, and overzealous idiots shutting down public school for little to no reason.
Dr.O, that’s an interesting thought. If we can’t reduce/shut down an agency, just swap personnel. What would we get if we swapped the people at State with the IRS?
Significant reports of WMD ‘write-offs of Massive Deductions’ perhaps. And lots and lots of audits, but no discrepancy found in any of them. Also Snipes would be criticized severely for misdeeds, but then he would promise to behave and all would be forgiven.