Killing Al Qaeda? That’s Their Job
July 15th, 2009 at 2:26 pm by Sean Linnane | 24 Comments |
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On Monday, the New York Times reported that:
Since 2001, the Central Intelligence Agency developed plans to dispatch small teams overseas to kill senior Qaeda terrorists, according to current and former government officials
. . . for some incredible reason we’re told the plan was never carried out!
The concept seems to have gotten mired down in organizational CIA overkill:
Officials at the spy agency over the years ran into myriad logistical, legal and diplomatic obstacles. How could the role of the United States be masked? Should allies be informed and might they block the access of the C.I.A. teams to their targets? What if American officers or their foreign surrogates were caught in the midst of an operation? Would such activities violate international law or American restrictions on assassinations overseas?
HEY! Earth to Langley, VA: SINCE WHEN DID WE START GIVING A RAT’s *SS ABOUT A BUNCH OF INTERNATIONAL LAWYERS ? ! ? ! ? ! We’re at WAR here, RIGHT? US targeted killings of Al Qaeda terrorists is a legal act of self-defense, point blank and simple – I mean, if it’s OK to launch Hellfire missiles off Predator drones into multi-family dwellings in remote corners of Pakistan, what on Earth is wrong with taking out your targets with surgical precision?
OK – Problem identified; allow me to suggest a solution:
You throw enough money out there to hire a dedicated group of pissed-off ex-Green Berets like myself, and finance our operations. We know how to plan long-term operations, we speak foreign languages, we know how to live incognito overseas, and we have a certain motto when it comes to this sort of thing: “If it bleeds, you can kill it.” We’ll get the job done.
For planning guidance, check out General Patton’s maxims. Here are a few to consider:
A good solution applied with vigor now is better than a perfect solution applied ten minutes later.
Take calculated risks.
Do not fear failure.
In case of doubt, attack.
No one is thinking if everyone is thinking alike.
The only thing to do when a son-of-a-bitch looks cross-eyed at you is to beat the hell out of him right then and there.
And there’s this beauty, of course:
No good decision was ever made in a swivel chair.
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