I.d.i.o.t. Msm

[Annie]

http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=OTM5MmFkOTRmNTFmYzE3OTE1YTE2YjQ5YmRkMGY4ZDY=

Friday, June 09, 2006

No Wonder Our Intelligece Is So Sparse [Andy McCarthy]

Reading the account of events leading to the raid that killed Zarqawi in this morning's NYTimes provides a good object lesson in why our intelligence is so sparse.

Thanks yet again to people inside our intelligence community who don't know how to keep their mouths shut, one (or perhaps more) of the few valuable sources we have inside the jihadist network in Iraq is today no longer a valuable source — either (a) because enough information is now public that the bad guys can pretty easily figure out who among them is an informant and kill him (typically, in a grisly fashion to discourage others), or (b) because we have to extract the informant to avoid that fate. The Times reports:

[W]hat the Americans had always lacked was someone from inside Mr. Zarqawi's network, Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, who would betray him — someone close enough and trusted enough to show the Americans where he was.

According to a Pentagon official, the Americans finally got one. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because details of the raid are classified, said that an Iraqi informant inside Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia provided the critical piece of intelligence about Mr. Rahman's [i.e., Zarqawi's "spiritual adivser"] meeting with Mr. Zarqawi. The source's identity was not clear — nor was it clear how that source was able to pinpoint Mr. Zarqawi's location without getting killed himself. [ME: This means these things were not clear to the NYTIMES. You can bet they is now clear to al Qaeda.]

"We have a guy on the inside who led us directly to Zarqawi," the official said.

In a news release on Thursday morning, American military commanders hinted strongly that a member of Mr. Zarqawi's inner circle had pointed the way. "Tips and intelligence from Iraqi senior leaders from his network led forces to al-Zarqawi," the release said.

Iraqi officials confirmed that Mr. Zarqawi had indeed been sold out by one of his own. "We have managed to infiltrate this organization," said Mowaffak al-Rubaie, Iraq's national security adviser. He declined to elaborate.

Just how the Americans were able to get the information from the source was also unclear. [ME: But rest assured that as soon as someone in the intelligence community leaks it to us, we'll be reporting how the U.S. manages to communicate with its informants.] In an interview, a Jordanian official close to the investigation said the mission that killed Mr. Zarqawi was a joint operation conducted by the Americans and Jordanian intelligence. The source inside Mr. Zarqawi's group, the Jordanian official said, had been cultivated at least in part by Jordanian intelligence agents. [ME: Translation: if you have been providing intelligence to the U.S. and you are either a Jordanian member of al Qaeda in Iraq or a Zarqawi associate who was ever in Jordan on Zarqawi business, it's time to get out of town.]

"There was a man from Zarqawi's group who handed over the information," the Jordanian official said.

Back in Hibhib, Mr. Ismael [a witness interviewed by the Times and whom the newspaper chose to identify by name for this story] again noticed something strange. Of the three GMC trucks that had pulled up to the house in the date palm grove, only two stayed. One of them drove away and never came back.

Whether the departing GMC contained the source who tipped off the Americans about Mr. Zarqawi's location is unknown.

If you were thinking about betraying al Qaeda and becoming a U.S. informant, would you do it after hearing about or reading this?

 

[CSM]

http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=OTM5MmFkOTRmNTFmYzE3OTE1YTE2YjQ5YmRkMGY4ZDY=

I am not so sure...it could be that we really dont have a man on the inside and that type of information was "leaked" intentionally to make the enemy THINK they have been infiltrated. That kind of thing can tear up a terrorist cell pretty quick because now they have to worry about who inside their cells is trustworthy and who outside their cells as well. It could cause quite a dilema for them.

Then again, if we do have people on he inside, the terrorists will have to get pretty damn paranoid. If they start killing off their own members willy-nilly, recruitment willl be a real nightmare for them.

 

[Annie]

I am not so sure...it could be that we really dont have a man on the inside and that type of information was "leaked" intentionally to make the enemy THINK they have been infiltrated. That kind of thing can tear up a terrorist cell pretty quick because now they have to worry about who inside their cells is trustworthy and who outside their cells as well. It could cause quite a dilema for them.

Then again, if we do have people on he inside, the terrorists will have to get pretty damn paranoid. If they start killing off their own members willy-nilly, recruitment willl be a real nightmare for them.

Well you would know better than I, for sure the police don't like when info. like this gets out. Different problems in all likelihood.

 

[CSM]

Well you would know better than I, for sure the police don't like when info. like this gets out. Different problems in all likelihood.

Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that the information WAS intentionally put out there...I don't know that for sure. The fact that themilitary leadership over there is saying the same thing makes me suspect that. Psychological warfare has its place on the battlefield too.

 

[Annie]

Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that the information WAS intentionally put out there...I don't know that for sure. The fact that themilitary leadership over there is saying the same thing makes me suspect that. Psychological warfare has its place on the battlefield too.

I know. There were lots of places to find what you are referring to today. For my take, check the comments found here:

http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2006/06/captured_zarqaw.htmlCaptured Zarqawi Aide Spilled the Beans

The comments, not †he article.

June 09, 2006 11:08 AM

Alexis Debat Reports:

Ziad_raja_al_karbouly_nrAn Iraqi customs agent secretly working with Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's terror cell spilled the beans on the group after he was arrested, Jordanian officials tell ABC News.

Ziad Khalaf Raja al-Karbouly was arrested by Jordanian intelligence forces last spring.

Officials say Karbouly confessed to his role in the terror cell and provided crucial information on the names of Zarqawi commanders and locations of their safe houses.

Karbouly also admitted to his role in the kidnappings of two Moroccan embassy employees, four Iraqi National Guards and an Iraqi finance ministry official.

In a videotaped confession, Karbouly said he acted on direct orders from Zarqawi.

Officials say he will not be eligible for any of the $25 million reward money.

As Brian Ross reported this morning, the super-secret Task Force 145 does deserve the recognition for Wednesday's capture.

By the time two American jet fighters were called in to drop their 500 pound bombs, General George Casey was certain Zarqawi was in the house, and there was no thought of trying to capture him alive.

"Because the only means that could be applied in a timely fashion was the attack by air power and that was decided by General Casey as the right thing to do," U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad told ABC News.

The FBI on-line reward poster, offering a $25 million dollar bounty, today lists Zarqawi as deceased.

While Zarqawi's al Qaeda group has been decimated, it is only one of 14 major insurgent groups operating in Iraq.

"Different groups that operate independently and are not controlled by al Zarqawi, they don't need him, and they will continue their attacks in the long term," said Sajjan Gohel, an International Security Expert at the Asia-Pacific Foundation.

Authorities this morning are bracing for retaliatory attacks, and all vehicular traffic is banned in Baghdad and Baqubah, near the place where Zarqawi was finally tracked down.

June 9, 2006 in Zarqawi