Al Qaeda near defeat, on defensive: CIA chief

[Frenchy]

If this can be believed, it's certainly good news

<H1>Al Qaeda near defeat, on defensive: CIA chief

Fri May 30, 2008 1:22am EDT
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Al Qaeda is essentially defeated in Iraq and Saudi Arabia and on the defensive throughout much of the world, CIA Director Michael Hayden said in a Washington Post interview published on Friday.
The upbeat assessment came less than a year after the CIA warned of new threats from a resurgent al Qaeda, the Post said.
"On balance, we are doing pretty well," Hayden told the newspaper this week citing major gains against Osama bin Laden's network and its allies.
"Near strategic defeat of al Qaeda in Iraq. Near strategic defeat for al Qaeda in Saudi Arabia. Significant setbacks for al Qaeda globally -- and here I'm going to use the word 'ideologically,' as a lot of the Islamic world pushes back on their form of Islam," Hayden said.
U.S. officials blame al Qaeda in Iraq for most big bombings in the country, including an attack on a Shi'ite shrine in Samarra in February 2006 that set off a wave of sectarian killings that nearly tipped Iraq into all-out civil war.
Hayden told the Post that counter-terrorism successes extend even to the lawless region along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, where bin Laden is believed to be living.
"The ability to kill and capture key members of al-Qaeda continues, and keeps them off balance -- even in their best safe haven along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border," Hayden said.
Hayden said capturing or killing bin Laden and his top deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, remains a top priority, although he noted the difficulties in finding them in the remote region where the U.S. military is officially forbidden to operate, the Post reported.
Hayden said al-Qaeda's global leadership has lost three senior officers since the start of the year, including two who succumbed "to violence," an apparent reference to missile strikes from drone Predator aircraft in Pakistan, the Post reported.
The CIA chief also cited a successful blow against "training activity" in the region, but offered no details, the newspaper said.
Despite the optimistic outlook, the Post said Hayden expressed concern that the progress against al Qaeda could be halted or reversed because of what he views as growing complacency and a return to the mind-set that existed before the September 11 attacks.
"The fact that we have kept safe for pushing seven years now has got them back into the state of mind where 'safe' is normal," Hayden said. "Our view is: Safe is hard-won, every 24 hours."
(Writing by JoAnne Allen; editing by Patricia Zengerle)
Al Qaeda near defeat, on defensive: CIA chief | Reuters

</H1>
And our borders and ports are as vulnerable as ever...Government complacency or gross incompetence?

[KEVWYO]

Combo of complacency and incompetence I'm afraid.

I think I would've rather heard Hayden say something a year or so from now like ....

"We wanted to come out a year ago and say we felt that strategically al Qaeda was largely defeated. However, knowing full well that the loose organization that it is makes it very hard, if not impossible to defeat with certainty, we decided to pursue what remnants we could find across Iraq and as defnitively as we could obliterate them. Now we will turn our attention to Afghanistan to eliminate it's threat there and we will aid the Pakistan government in every possible way to eliminate the havens that al Qaeda currently enjoys there now."

[AZXD]

Good news if it pans out. Bad news if it doesn't.

Past events really screwed up credibility. I wanna believe it ... But the big intelligence screw-up of a few years ago ... Has me hearing someone crying wolf. I just don't know what/who to trust.

I guess at this point, when they start bringing the troops home, and all hell does not break loose .... Then I'll start believing it is more an intelligence thing and not a political thing.

[Judge]

Notice his last comment: "Safe is hard won, every 24 hours."

We must continue the fight. Anywhere, everywhere. Then we have the best chance at safety.

[Frenchy]

Originally Posted by Judge

Notice his last comment: "Safe is hard won, every 24 hours."

We must continue the fight. Anywhere, everywhere. Then we have the best chance at safety.

And paying serious attention to our borders and ports, too...Yes?

[yeahYeah]

I expect Reid and some other jerk offs to condemn this news and call it "false and conjured up by the Bush administration to mislead the American people into actually thinking we are winning"

[AZXD]

Originally Posted by Frenchy

And paying serious attention to our borders and ports, too...Yes?

You'll never get a liberal to say they want anything about the border that does not equate to an Open Border Amnesty Policy.

The ports I'm not so sure about ... But the border needs to be opened. It's the liberal way. Use a green card as an excuse to bring them in, help those who don't qualify because we need that cheap labor that undermines the U.S. worker and infrastructure ... And then give them the country, for free.

It's the Liberalized ... I don't understand America or it's people ... Way.

[Judge]

And yes to that, but with 19,000 miles of border, there is only so much we can do.

Getting the fence up is a good start, but the practical reality is that every American needs to be paying attention and be willing to labor to secure his own defense. We simply can not station an outpost every 50 yards along our border or cover every port.

And our problem has been the terrorist getting in LEGALLY. Right thru immigration, with valid passports - or good enough to pass visual inspection.

There's simply no way to keep them all out if they have the time/means to plan and study, hence the advantage of taking the fight to them.

Originally Posted by Frenchy

And paying serious attention to our borders and ports, too...Yes?

[longtalltechsan]

Originally Posted by Frenchy

If this can be believed, it's certainly good news



</H1>
And our borders and ports are as vulnerable as ever...Government complacency or gross incompetence?

Was the CIA chief standing in front of a big banner too that said "Mission Accomplished"?

[chupacabrachus]

Originally Posted by Frenchy

If this can be believed...

Exactly. I'm calling "half-truth".