11.30.2010 07:11 AM

In today’s Sun: When Austin Powers is a documentary

Main author of cables in WikiLeaks release.

“When you take a gander at the mountain of classified U.S. documents WikiLeaks offered up on Sunday, you are inevitably left pondering the phrase “intelligence community.”

Turns out, it’s an oxymoron.

The “intelligence community,” clearly, is neither “intelligent” nor a “community.”

In fact, when you ponder what America’s top spies are pondering, it’s not so amazing that Osama bin Laden has escaped capture for more than a decade. The alleged Maxwell Smarts overseeing America’s intelligence-gathering aren’t particularly smart and they have a tenuous grasp on that important allies/enemies distinction, too.”

7 Comments

  1. Ted H. says:

    I can’t get the thought out of my mind seeing all of this stuff that there probably really is no credible “terrorist threat”, the whole thing is a bunch of total BS. Oh there are a few guys trying to see how stupidly they can get the “intelligence community” to react, how inconvenient they can make travel for North Americans, what implausible objects they can threaten to put explosives into, gels, liquids, baby bottles, underwear, toner cartridges. Each of these trial balloons causes airport security to go crazy. The whole issue is a big make work project. Did you ever notice how one guy talks to you at the airport and five more just stand around behind him glaring at you. People joke when a couple of city workers seem to be standing around but not so much when twice as many security personnel are just standing around. Behind them are many, many more security experts, specialists, operatives, all milking the so called “terrorist threat”. Most intelligent commentators, (as opposed to “intelligence” experts) have recognized that 911 was a one off, it isn’t going to happen again. The desired result was achieved, the US and its allies were suckered into Iraq and Afghanistan where they can slowly bleed to death, piss off more civilians in those countries, and gradually damage their own economies. Meanwhile, more totalitarian controls in the name of security are making daily life less free for average citizens in Western countries. It has been said, 911 was not a failure of security, but a failure of imagination. Our Western governments are not very imaginative, except in one area, they are very good at imagining chimera such as Communism, Terrorism, Al Quaida, rogue state missiles, etc., all designed to get the people to agree to massive expenditure on the military, new weapons, body scanners, more security personnel, and they have been doing so since the cold war started. Is this an extreme statement, an oversimplification? It is worth thinking about. ” THERE IS NO TERRORIST THREAT, IT’S ALL BS”.

    • Ted H. says:

      With respect to those killed or injured, all relatively small home grown stuff. It happens all the time in many parts of the world but 911 was an attack at the heart of Western power and influence designed to sucker the US into reacting in a predictable and unimaginative way, and of course they did. Don’t be such a scold.

    • Dave says:

      Well, so far it has been a one-off.

  2. mississaugapeter says:

    WK, your best Sun article yet!

    Rae’s and your schedulers should be working overtime to insure there is no overlap.

  3. Namesake says:

    another doozy from Non Sequitariat:

    the absence of smoking guns (to date) on the true reasons for the Iraqi war in this document dump does NOTHING to vindicate the Bush regime of allegations that they had some sort of ulterior motive for starting it — for a whole bunch of reasons.

    Here’s just a few: most of these cables only date back 3 years; none of them are Top Secret; they issue from or are directed to the State Dep’t, not the White House, where such decisions are made (which is what Hilary’s running around saying today); and they’re almost all just from low-level functionaries in the State Dep’t; and they’re mostly just…. gossip.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/29/world/29cables.html?_r=1&hp=&pagewanted=all

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