farmgirl
02-17-2004, 02:55 PM
http://www.opinioneditorials.com/contributors/newman_20040217.html
February 17, 2004
A War-on-Terror Report Card
Bob Newman
I made my bones as a journalist on the national level by doing something weird: I reported the facts and used nearly 30 years’ experience in the fields of counterterrorism, military science, intelligence and special operations to cut through the garbage being reported by so many news outlets. This experience has, over the last two and a half years (since I came to Clear Channel Colorado as their military and terrorism analyst and as a talk-show host), allowed me to make 23 accurate predictions in the war on terror, which have led to countless requests for assessments on how we are doing so far in this seemingly endless war. Therefore, this column.
First, we must understand that asymmetric warfare (in this case, fighting a global war against terrorists) is perhaps the most daunting form of warfare in part because of its unconventional nature. This fact is exacerbated by a Central Intelligence Agency whose human intelligence (HumInt) collection assets were savaged by the Clintons; the CIA was nearly disemboweled by 2000. Given that we have managed to not suffer another catastrophic attack on our soil since September 2001, the overall grade the Bush administration gets so far is a B+.
The war in Afghanistan gets a solid A because it resulted in the removal of the Taliban. This helped bring about the decentralization of al Qaeda, which has resulted in al Qaeda operations being severely curtailed, although al Qaeda remains very dangerous (you can’t kill them all and destroy them entirely).
The war in Iraq gets a B. Saddam has been caught, but the U.S. Army was not prepared to effectively handle the guerrilla war that followed the sacking of Baghdad. However, they have gotten better and now understand, like the Marines have for so long, that a military force must always be ready for counter-guerrilla operations. The Marines return in force to Iraq this spring to finish the job.
We rate only a B- in accurate intelligence across the board. It will take years and large sums of money to get back up to speed in our intelligence capabilities. Still, we are doing as well as can be expected with what we have.
Although we have escaped a second wave of mass-casualty attacks, on homeland security we get only a C, The problem is bureaucratic incompetence and negligence, and how few if any people in positions of power to improve security have been forced to do so after they have been shown to be incompetent and negligent. Holding bureaucrats accountable is nearly impossible because of job-protection bulkheads. Denver International Airport, general aviation airports, downtown Denver, our Colorado railways, and prime targets in Commerce City remain highly vulnerable.
We are winning the war on terror, but remember this: When two parties are involved in a protracted knife fight, each is likely to be cut again and again until one finally dies. We will be badly cut in the future regardless of our power, skill and aggressiveness, but if we turn our back on our opponent now because we don’t like the sight of our own blood, it will surely result in a lethal thrust.
###
Winner of a 2002 National Edward R. Murrow Award for investigative reporting (terrorism and homeland security), Bob Newman is the host of the "Bob Newman Show" & "Newman Report" on AM 850 KOA in Denver. A retired U.S. Marine, Mr. Newman is recognized as one of the world's most respected authorities on counterterrorism and special operations, and has appeared on numerous national television news programs and nearly every network. The author of 21 books and thousands of articles and columns that have appeared in dozens of publications, is the Director of Counterterrorism Programs for BSI2000, Inc., and is a counterterrorism consultant to industry and governments. His latest book is Trenches and Hard-Points, a Gulf War novel based upon true events.
bobnewmancomm@msn.com
Interesting..... your thoughts??
February 17, 2004
A War-on-Terror Report Card
Bob Newman
I made my bones as a journalist on the national level by doing something weird: I reported the facts and used nearly 30 years’ experience in the fields of counterterrorism, military science, intelligence and special operations to cut through the garbage being reported by so many news outlets. This experience has, over the last two and a half years (since I came to Clear Channel Colorado as their military and terrorism analyst and as a talk-show host), allowed me to make 23 accurate predictions in the war on terror, which have led to countless requests for assessments on how we are doing so far in this seemingly endless war. Therefore, this column.
First, we must understand that asymmetric warfare (in this case, fighting a global war against terrorists) is perhaps the most daunting form of warfare in part because of its unconventional nature. This fact is exacerbated by a Central Intelligence Agency whose human intelligence (HumInt) collection assets were savaged by the Clintons; the CIA was nearly disemboweled by 2000. Given that we have managed to not suffer another catastrophic attack on our soil since September 2001, the overall grade the Bush administration gets so far is a B+.
The war in Afghanistan gets a solid A because it resulted in the removal of the Taliban. This helped bring about the decentralization of al Qaeda, which has resulted in al Qaeda operations being severely curtailed, although al Qaeda remains very dangerous (you can’t kill them all and destroy them entirely).
The war in Iraq gets a B. Saddam has been caught, but the U.S. Army was not prepared to effectively handle the guerrilla war that followed the sacking of Baghdad. However, they have gotten better and now understand, like the Marines have for so long, that a military force must always be ready for counter-guerrilla operations. The Marines return in force to Iraq this spring to finish the job.
We rate only a B- in accurate intelligence across the board. It will take years and large sums of money to get back up to speed in our intelligence capabilities. Still, we are doing as well as can be expected with what we have.
Although we have escaped a second wave of mass-casualty attacks, on homeland security we get only a C, The problem is bureaucratic incompetence and negligence, and how few if any people in positions of power to improve security have been forced to do so after they have been shown to be incompetent and negligent. Holding bureaucrats accountable is nearly impossible because of job-protection bulkheads. Denver International Airport, general aviation airports, downtown Denver, our Colorado railways, and prime targets in Commerce City remain highly vulnerable.
We are winning the war on terror, but remember this: When two parties are involved in a protracted knife fight, each is likely to be cut again and again until one finally dies. We will be badly cut in the future regardless of our power, skill and aggressiveness, but if we turn our back on our opponent now because we don’t like the sight of our own blood, it will surely result in a lethal thrust.
###
Winner of a 2002 National Edward R. Murrow Award for investigative reporting (terrorism and homeland security), Bob Newman is the host of the "Bob Newman Show" & "Newman Report" on AM 850 KOA in Denver. A retired U.S. Marine, Mr. Newman is recognized as one of the world's most respected authorities on counterterrorism and special operations, and has appeared on numerous national television news programs and nearly every network. The author of 21 books and thousands of articles and columns that have appeared in dozens of publications, is the Director of Counterterrorism Programs for BSI2000, Inc., and is a counterterrorism consultant to industry and governments. His latest book is Trenches and Hard-Points, a Gulf War novel based upon true events.
bobnewmancomm@msn.com
Interesting..... your thoughts??