How so?Quote:
Originally Posted by Gelatinous Cube
Scrap it and go with NRO only?
Make it more of a HUMINT only, no special actions?
Make it more like the old OSS -- dirty tricks galore?
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How so?Quote:
Originally Posted by Gelatinous Cube
Scrap it and go with NRO only?
Make it more of a HUMINT only, no special actions?
Make it more like the old OSS -- dirty tricks galore?
Step one: find a way for it to be impartial and corruption proof.
Step 2: cure cancer because you're apparently god to get past step 1.
If you get rid of Varys, then it really won't be King's Landing anymore.
I think the CIA is more Little Finger than Varys. I think Varys is more FBI.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lemur
Erm... I dont think varys would be the FBI, I don't remember varys ruining the lives of people, just because he thought they had differing philosophies regardless of actual proof.
Because Hoover would never amass files on people, blackmail them or crush their careers...
... and this is what happens when you overreach. It appears that the GOP substantially altered the raw emails before sending them to the press. Way to get on Santa's naughty list.
CNN has broke a new wrinkly in the Benghazi story...
Dozens of CIA operatives on the ground during Benghazi attack
Quote:
Sources now tell CNN dozens of people working for the CIA were on the ground that night, and that the agency is going to great lengths to make sure whatever it was doing, remains a secret.
CNN has learned the CIA is involved in what one source calls an unprecedented attempt to keep the spy agency's Benghazi secrets from ever leaking out.
So... does this qualify as a coverup yet?Quote:
A source now tells CNN that number was 35, with as many as seven wounded, some seriously.
Does it count as an embassy anymore if it its an unlawful prison or a command post for drone strikes or a communication structure for rendition, torture or other quasi-military setup.
Big difference between being a black ops outpost and a place to get a passport visa.
=][=
Just read the link. This is possibly another Iran-Contra affair.
Except it was Libya-Syria
All embassies do a little spying on the side. It's a tried Cold War practice.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gelatinous Cube
If it's in a hotspot, then they do more spying than usual.
The presence of CIA should not be over reacted to. Not everything an Intelligence Agency does is James Bond- Mission Impossible stuff.
Most of it is mundane information gathering that a tourist could do.
Finding the mood of the people and political leanings is a part of that. Not very much of what they do is clandestine black ops Hollywood junk.
CIA became a military organization the moment they moved from just intelligence to operating drone strikes.
If I use an ambulance for a drive by its no longer an ambulance. And if I paint a Red Cross on a tank it isn't an ambulance either.
The CIA chooses not to declare which ones are fighting therefore they are all non uniformed combatants. Can't have your cake and eat it too.
I agree with that and I want to add that I think it is a dangerously stupid and irresponsible move to make an embassy that surely involves quite a few civilians and diplomats as well a military target and then blame the enemy when they target it :crazy:Quote:
Originally Posted by Papewaio
Infact I can and I did, just yesterday ~:smoking:Quote:
Can't have your cake and eat it too.
Now that you have ate your cake do you still have it or has it gone from its plate?
I still have it. I am kinda metaphysical... but we shouldn't derail the thread over a stupid joke of mine I guess, my apologies :bow:
CNN sure seems to be making that allegation. :yes:Quote:
Originally Posted by Papewaio
Syria is another one of those conflicts where it seems like there aren't any good guys. I really wouldn't be to thrilled to hear we were shipping surface-to-air missiles to Al Qaeda affiliates in Syria. That should be an obviously bad idea to anyone.
Like backing the Mujaheddin in Afghanistan?Quote:
Originally Posted by Xiahou
Several "exclusive sources" talking to reporters in relation to Benghazi have been ... shall we say, less than truthful.
I would wait for serious corroborating evidence before taking, as Xiahou's linked article puts it, "a source with deep inside knowledge of the agency's workings" at face value.
I'm not saying this is a fabrication, but I am saying that there have been confirmed fabrications about Benghazi, so let's see if the latest thing gets substantiated.
'60 Minutes' did a feature on the Benghazi attacks this week. Better late than never I guess. :shrug:
Here's a link to the video, here's one to the transcript.
A few pullouts:
Quote:
Originally Posted by 60 Minutes
Quote:
Contrary to the White House's public statements, which were still being made a full week later, it's now well established that the Americans were attacked by al Qaeda in a well-planned assault.
Read/watch the whole thing. Then tell us why this is a bunch of trumped up balogna that isn't worthy of a serious investigation.Quote:
But on his first drive through Benghazi, he noticed the black flags of al Qaeda flying openly in the streets and he grew concerned about the guard forces as soon as he pulled up to the U.S. compound.
Benghazi seems very overblown to me.
It definitely seems like some one didn't do their job properly. But "big scandel led by Obama" just makes me tilt my head to the side and go "Huh?"
Being honest, I think there will be a huge surge in job applicants to the NSA and other foreign equals. Even though it is big and bad, people are drawn to the lust of power and the idea they can snoop into everyones gmail accounts for giggles and the like.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gelatinous Cube
T:
The folks I knew/met who were NSA weren't anything like that at all. Tended to be a bit humorless and a touch stodgy. Their corporate culture is close-mouthed to a fault -- a bit of an antithesis to what you suggest.
I know a lot of the younger generation interested in such for the reasons I said. They properly do turn out to be those humourless types if they do end up in such positions.Quote:
Originally Posted by Seamus Fermanagh
I think it's entirely plausible that political considerations, not logistical ones, led to lax security and also played a role during the attack and in it's aftermath. I could be wrong, but the administration's deliberate obfuscation and, frankly, lies about what transpired isn't making it look any better for them.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tiaexz
'We were wrong': CBS's Lara Logan apologizes for Benghazi reportQuote:
Originally Posted by Lemur
A primary source for the "60 Minutes" report on October 27 was a security contractor using the pseudonym "Morgan Jones," later identified as Dylan Davies. Davies told CBS he was able to reach the Benghazi compound on the night of September 11, 2012, scale a wall and even fight off a militant.
That story cast doubt on whether the Obama administration sent all possible help to try to save Stevens and his three colleagues. The "60 Minutes" story was cited by congressional Republicans who have demanded to know why a military rescue was not attempted. [...]
"What we know now is, he told the FBI a different story to what he told us," Logan said. "That was the moment for us when we realized that we no longer had confidence in our source and we were wrong to put him on air, and we apologize to our viewers." [...]
The apology comes a day after CBS issued a statement saying, "60 Minutes has learned of new information that undercuts the account told to us by Morgan Jones of his actions on the night of the attack on the Benghazi compound. We are currently looking into this serious matter to determine if he misled us, and if so, we will make a correction."
Ultimately, any such diplomatic posting puts the people so posted in harm's way. Short of an armed presence in battalion strength, no cadre of Embassy Marines or DoS Security folks can completely protect our diplomats.
The decision to keep security measures as minimal as possible was a political decision, but the whole purpose of a diplomatic mission IS politics, so political considerations trumping security are likely inevitable.
International punitive missions against the Harmonious Fists are a thing of the past. Dips are out on a limb and sometimes they will get the chop.
That said, I am still not happy at the lethargy of response nor the cover up aspects of this particular fiasco.
The Senate finally released its long-awaited bipartisan report. They place blame on the State Department and the Intelligence community.
Quote:
The bipartisan report lays out more than a dozen findings regarding the assaults on Sept. 11 and 12, 2012 on the diplomatic compound and a CIA annex in the Libyan city of Benghazi. It says the State Department failed to increase security at the sites despite warnings, and faults intelligence agencies for not sharing information about the existence of the CIA outpost with the U.S. military.