August 15, 2005

See, there's your problem.

In the Clinton days, the CIA was tasked to get Bin Laden, but they always had to plan to capture him alive. As a result of lawyerly meddling, little was done:

Between 1998 and 2000, the CIA and President Bill Clinton's national security team were caught up in paralyzing policy disputes as they secretly debated the legal permissions for covert operations against Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan.

And in the first few days of the War in Afghanistan, Tommy Franks had Mullah Omar in his crosshairs, but then consulted his lawyer.

"My JAG"—Judge Advocate General, a legal officer—"doesn't like this, so we're not going to fire."

And now, according to the hot column everyone will be talking about in the North Bergen (NJ) News by Mike Kelly (who talked with part of the Able Danger team), lawyers stepped in once again:

Another target are Pentagon lawyers. The sleuth says he and other Able Danger team members became so concerned during the summer of 2000 that they asked their superiors in the Pentagon's special operations command for permission to approach the FBI. Their superiors approached Pentagon legal experts. Those experts turned down the request.

...

Perhaps just as alarming, even the Able Danger team understood its limits. When lawyers blocked Able Danger's request to approach the FBI, the team simply went back to its work and kept quiet - even after the 9/11 attacks occurred.

I'm beginning to see a pattern here.

By See-Dubya at 02:33 AM | |