Word: qaeda
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...that was the problem. The Cheney-Rumsfeld axis, which essentially ran national-security policy in the first half of the Bush Administration, was stuck in the Cold War. Rather than fight the enemy we had - the stateless terrorists of al-Qaeda - they sought more conventional enemies. Attention quickly - too quickly - shifted from Afghanistan to Iraq. And then, once the conventional armored push to Baghdad was completed, the ongoing war effort became - amazingly - a bureaucratic orphan. "Every time we tried to do something for the troops in the field in both Afghanistan and Iraq, we had to go outside the regular...
...Torture and Intelligence Re "Dumb Intelligence," [May 4]: Robert Baer thinks "persuasion" is far more effective than torture. I don't pretend to understand the merits of techniques for extracting intelligence from prisoners. But as a veteran, I believe that al-Qaeda operatives are not garden-variety prisoners who would respond to persuasion; they have proved to be hate-filled extremists who place no value on human life, including the lives of their own people. Baer suggests they would give false information under torture to "stop the pain" whereas persuasive techniques would encourage them to tell the truth. That doesn...
Torture and Intelligence Re "Dumb Intelligence," [May 4]: Robert Baer thinks "persuasion" is more effective than torture. I don't pretend to understand the merits of techniques for extracting intelligence. But as a veteran, I believe that al-Qaeda operatives are not garden-variety prisoners who would respond to persuasion; they have proved to be hate-filled extremists who place no value on human life. I don't like torture either, but if it obtains information that puts a stop to future bloodshed - as it has, according to experts - then I say please resume. John Stern, GRAND HAVEN, MICH...
...Miami On Third Try, Conviction in Terrorist Plot After three years and two mistrials, a federal jury convicted five Miami-based men of conspiring to blow up the Sears Tower, Chicago's landmark skyscraper, in 2006. Ringleader Narseal Batiste, who was captured on tape swearing allegiance to al-Qaeda and threatening to "kill all the devils," faces up to 70 years in prison. He was the only suspect convicted on all charges--one was fully acquitted and one exonerated in a previous trial--in a protracted case that some experts said lacked convincing evidence. Defense lawyers vowed to appeal...
...They smell blood.' BRUCE RIEDEL, former CIA analyst, on al-Qaeda's exploiting the turmoil in Pakistan to bolster its strength...