Update no.490

Update from the Heartland

No.490

2.5.11 – 8.5.11

Blog version: http://heartlandupdate.blogspot.com/

To all,
The follow-up news items:
-- Circa 01:15 [E], Monday, 2.May.2011 {16:15 [R] EDT, Sunday, 1.May}, a large unit from SEAL Team Six, operating on intelligence developed by the CIA, executed Operation NEPTUNE SPEAR – a nighttime raid on a large compound in Abbottabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, some 60 kilometers north of the capital Islamabad. The high-walled compound on roughly one hectare of land (2.5 acres) is located within walking distance of Pakestan Fewja Dersegah [the Pakistan Military Academy (AKA PMA or Kakul); roughly equivalent to West Point or Sandhurst], and in the same city as the headquarters of a brigade of the Pakistan Army’s 2nd Infantry Division. As an irrelevant side note: the Press has portrayed the compound as a luxury mansion; just an FYI: it does not meet my definition of luxury, however, perhaps by Pakistani standards it was luxury, or luxury compared to a cave in Tora Bora, Afghanistan. Word came from the assault team – “Geronimo EKIA” – target confirmed killed in action. At 23:35 [R] EDT, Sunday, 1.May, with the team safely extracted, President Obama publicly acknowledged the raid and its success in a short East Room televised statement. Killed during the compound raid were: Usama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Ladin, 54 (founder and leader of al-Qa’ida [489]); Hamza bin Usama bin Muhammed bin 'Awad bin Ladin, 19 (one of Usama’s 19 children; AKA the Crown Prince of Terror; also implicated in the assassination of Pakistani Prime Minister Benazhir Bhutto {27.12.2007 [316]}); Sheikh Abu Ahmed (trusted bin Ladin confidante and al-Qa’ida courier, AKA Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti; also reportedly the key intelligence link back to bin Ladin); along with Ahmed’s wife and brother (names unknown). With Usama when the shooters entered, the youngest of his five wives, Amal Ahmed Abdel Fatteh, 27, a Yemeni woman, was shot in the leg and will recover, probably to enjoy a rather intense interrogation, I suspect. Several other women and a number of children were captured and turned over to the Pakistani authorities; some of them may be related to bin Ladin. The precision of this strike was impressive but also expected of those shooters. According to various national and international Press reports, Usama’s corpse was extracted with the mission team to Afghanistan, and from there flown to the USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) operating in the Arabian Sea. I surmise a substantial quantity of varied evidence was collected, catalogued and safely stored, before he was buried at sea in the Islamic tradition. I expect and hope whomever survived the raid will be subject to extended, proper, intelligence (vice criminal) interrogation before they are released, if they are ever released; they should become guests at the Guantánamo detention facility. While the death of bin Ladin has symbolic value to all freedom-loving people, I suspect the vastly more valuable product of the raid was the collection of intelligence source material. I also suspect proportionately far more time was spent collecting material that will be rapidly analyzed and exploited – the intelligence value may well be incalculable – than was spent securing the compound.
The President had a choice: 1.) drop a Mk84 JDAM (or two or three) from a B-2 heavy bomber, which would have obliterated the compound and everyone in it, as well as potentially unintended collateral damage around the target, inside a sovereign country and ostensible ally, or 2.) conduct a special operations raid and pray no accidents happened like those that doomed Operation EAGLE CLAW. He could not trust the Pakistanis to carry out such a critical mission. As we know now, President Obama chose the latter, to take the risk, to recover the body as proof-positive, and he pulled the trigger at 14:05 [R] EDT, 1.May. From everything I have seen or heard, the President and his national security staff handled this operation in perfect form. They considered their options, decided the mission and constraints, and once the President pulled the trigger, they stood back and watched as the operators performed their duty. Well done, all the way around, I’d say (at least up to the President’s public statement Sunday night). Now, Usama’s sidekick and deputy, Egyptian physician Ayman Muhammad Rabaie al-Zawahiri, 59, becomes the primary target . . . and we will get him, too.
-- Congratulations, kudos, and a hearty three cheers for the government of France, the Bureau d’Enquêtes et d’Analyses pour la sécurité de l’aviation civile (BEA), the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, and the recovery team for Air France Flight 447 – the aircraft that disappeared over the Atlantic Ocean, enroute from Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, to Paris, France, with 248 souls on board {31.5.2009} [391]. They located the debris field at the bottom of 13,000 feet of ocean [486], and recovered the Flight Data Recorder (FDR), the separated memory unit of the FDR, and now the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) as well. The critical devices were retrieved by a deep diving, remotely operated submersible from the MV Île de Sein (an ocean cable-laying ship owned and operated by Alcatel-Lucent), and reportedly will be transferred to a French Navy warship for transport to the BEA facility at Le Bourget Airport, outside Paris, for analysis. Both devices are in good shape externally, but we will not know the internal state until the experts carefully and methodically examine the memory at the BEA laboratory. Nonetheless, this was an extraordinary technical achievement and a genuine tribute to French persistence that was regrettably overshadowed by other world events. We now hope the techies can retrieve the data for the accident investigation, so that one day we might know what happened to that ill-fated aircraft.

“Pakistan Did Its Part”
by Asif Ali Zardari
Washington Post
Published: May 3, 2011; pg. 21
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/pakistan-did-its-part/2011/05/02/AFHxmybF_story.html
Zardari is President of Pakistan and widower of Benazhir Bhutto. He has skin in the game. His words are relevant. I suspect the public kerfuffle over the raid is intended to assuage local public opinion, rather than reflect an opening rift. The War on Islamic Fascism is far from over, and we need to work together to defeat the extremists bent on destruction. All this grumbling about Pakistan not being a worthy ally in the War on Islamic Fascism is misguided and misdirected. Asif did not mention this element of reality, but Pakistan is a country with a massive Muslim population, a goodly portion of which are impoverished and highly vulnerable to radical clerics or even factions within the government who will try to exploit any rift between Pakistan and the United States. We have immediate proof in the assassination of Zardari’s wife, several ministers, and countless people by al-Qa’ida or its affiliates. For a longer view example, we can use the incitement to riot and the subsequent destruction of the U.S. embassy in Islamabad, following the bombing of the Grand Mosque in Mecca [20.11.1979]. Pakistan has been and continues to walk a very fine, crooked, tortuous line between dampening the fervor of radical clerics, its own internal parochial factions, and support for the United States. Despite the public denial, I suspect Secretary Clinton was correct; we had at least tacit acquiescence from the Pakistani government. A public confrontation with Pakistan is NOT in the best interests of the United States, our Allies, or waging war successfully. Let us please keep our priorities straight.

This URL offers a video of the formal press conference statement of the administration after Operation NEPTUNE SPEAR:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/carney-says-bin-laden-was-not-armed/2011/05/03/AFNTnRhF_video.html
White House Press Secretary James “Jay” Carney read the public statement. Whomever prepared and approved his statement should be fired. Whether bin Ladin was armed or not is irrelevant, yet that is precisely what seems to have dominated the statement. It was a very foolish public comment regarding bin Ladin being unarmed . . . REALLY!! Now, let’s just imagine what some elements of the national and international Press have focused on after that little gem? The President decided to send shooters, not law enforcement officers, to deal with bin Ladin; the operation was not a criminal arrest, it was a take down. This whole hoopla over “unarmed” is precisely and exactly why we do not deserve to have access to operational information of any kind, and why folks that do have access should keep their bloody mouths shut! We can’t handle it! Whether Carney disclosed such information inadvertently, or by some immature sense of propriety, or an even more ridiculous notion of transparency or openness, the consequences do an extraordinary disservice to all those who carried out this mission, from the President on down to the warrior who pulled his trigger (twice) that morning. They shot his wife in the leg before tapping the al-Qa’ida leader twice, which is consistent with very deliberate, purposeful shots. Carney could have and should have given a circumspect rendering and indicated that details would be available pending a proper after-action reporting and assessment process. Numerous sources have alleged the President signed a secret Executive Order authorizing a “shoot to kill” objective in contrast with the administration’s publicly stated objective. If that is the case (and eventually the truth will be known), history will not judge President Obama well. I truly hope the orders were capture or kill. For all the good the Obama administration did up to and executing this mission, this conflicting, contradicting, disjointed information, and juvenile waffling and disclosures, make them look like a batch of incompetent, amateur, school kids. The only public disclosure should have been a terse diplomatic statement of fact – simple, calm, cold, emotionless, factual rendering of that raid. What on God’s Little Green Earth was Jay Carney thinking? War is a bloody, nasty, disgusting business. It does not need to be glorified or made pretty. I will say that, like pornography, if you do not like what you see or hear, then do not look or listen. Trying to make war pretty, or pleasant, or not quite so bloody, will only get good men killed and ultimately make us all less safe. I respectfully submit . . . we need war to be violent and ugly, and we should thank the good Lord above, we have well-trained rough men who are prepared to inflict lethal violence upon those who would do us harm. Further, this foolish and naïve penchant for “openness” in wartime will surely get valuable patriots killed. I appreciate transparency in peacetime or in our political processes, but we must have opacity with wartime operations. As much as I want and like to get into the details of such operations, I no longer carry the sword and shield of a warrior; I am a citizen – a single member of We, the People – and I do NOT have a right to know means & methods of intelligence collection or field operations. This nonsense must stop! As one Press reporter noted, “The success of the bin Laden raid gave the White House a spectacular story to offer without any need to dress it up.” Those of us who have been around such braggartry, know the tarnish that inherently comes to an otherwise stellar operation. The SEALs provide a lesson for all of us, and especially the politicos – no need to speak; let your actions speak for you.

Two relevant opinions sure to raise public debate:
“From Guantanamo to Abbottabad – The bin Laden mission benefited greatly from Bush administration interrogation policies, but President Obama still prefers to kill, rather than capture, terrorists. This costs valuable intelligence.”
by John Yoo
Wall Street Journal
Published: May 4, 2011
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703834804576301032595527372.html?mod=djemEditorialPage_h
You may recall, John Choon Yoo was Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel, Department of Justice, during the Bush (43) administration, and wrote the controversial legal opinions regarding interrogations. Yoo said, “Mr. Obama's policies now differ from their Bush counterparts mainly on the issue of interrogation. As Sunday's operation put so vividly on display, Mr. Obama would rather kill al Qaeda leaders—whether by drones or special ops teams—than wade through the difficult questions raised by their detention. This may have dissuaded Mr. Obama from sending a more robust force to attempt a capture.” While I supported (and still do) Yoo’s legal opinion regarding Enhanced Interrogation Techniques (EIT) for intelligence purposes [381, 384], I must respectfully disagree with his assessment of the Sunday night operation. I believe the decision to kill bin Ladin was made in that split-second after entry into that 3rd floor room by that well-armed man who pulled his trigger twice; I doubt it was made by the President of the United States or anyone else in the command hierarchy. The man whose name should remain unknown for at least 20, if not 50, years is the only one who truly knows, and his perspective should remain in a highly classified after-action document for whatever that duration is decided to be.
. . . and . . .
“The Waterboarding Trail to bin Laden – Former CIA Director Michael Hayden said that as late as 2006 fully half of the government's knowledge about the structure and activities of al Qaeda came from harsh interrogations.”
by Michael B. Mukasey
Wall Street Journal
Published: May 6, 2011
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703859304576305023876506348.html?mod=djemEditorialPage_h
Judge Mukasey concluded, “It is, however, certain that intelligence-gathering rather than prosecution must be the first priority, and that we need a classified interrogation program administered by the agency best equipped to administer it: the CIA.
“We also need to put an end to the ongoing investigations of CIA operatives that continue to undermine intelligence community morale.
“Acknowledging and meeting the need for an effective and lawful interrogation program, which we once had, and freeing CIA operatives and others to administer it under congressional oversight, would be a fitting way to mark the demise of Osama bin Laden.”
I could not agree more. We simply must separate interrogation processes for intelligence purposes from those allowable for law enforcement and judicial prosecution. We must come to grips with the ugliness of war.

To release . . . or . . . not to release . . . that was the question! President Obama settled the conundrum on Wednesday. No mission photographs! So, that is settled. First, they should never have acknowledged that any images were taken or existed. The government’s position should have been that all information collected as part of or produced as a consequence of the operation is classified and will remain so for 20 years or more. Second, there is nothing to gain from releasing the photos and much to lose. The reality is, no matter what is released, the conspiracists will doubt anything and everything no matter what. Some folks still believe to their core that President Roosevelt intentionally allowed the Japanese to attack Pearl Harbor; that the CIA assassinated President Kennedy; that humans have never walked on the Moon; that the USG blew up the World Trade Center; and a myriad of other conspiracy theories. I will study the photographs (or any other data) when they are publicly released; however, I strongly, emphatically, urge the USG to resist the urge until they have their story straight, consistent, and can properly place any data in proper context. The public does NOT have a right to know wartime operational information.

Another perspective of Operation NEPTUNE SPEAR:
“The Slippery Story of the bin Laden Kill – The early narrative of the assault on Osama bin Laden had him using his wife as a human shield and firing from behind her. Now we learn he wasn't armed.”
by Garance Franke-Ruta
The Atlantic
Published: May 3, 2011; 4:34 PM ET
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/05/the-slippery-story-of-the-bin-laden-kill/238261/
The opening sentence: “The White House Tuesday blamed ‘the fog of war’ for conflicting statements in its recounting of the events surrounding the Abbottabad raid that killed Osama bin Laden, but the history of misstatements from U.S. government officials about various combat operations raises questions about whether briefers also were subjecting us to a counterterrorism strategy and not just completely confused in their initial statements.” – just the latter I am afraid. Politicians and bureaucrats in the comfort and safety of their cozy little offices in Washington, DC, with all the time they needed to sort things out, are NOT allowed to use the phrase “the fog of war,” that phrase is reserved for warriors in the field. To be blunt, the aftermath of Operation NEPTUNE SPEAR has been embarrassing, confusing, disappointing, and terribly regrettable in stark contrast to the precision of the raid itself.

“Five Mistakes the Obama Administration Has Made in the Aftermath of Bin Laden Killing”
by Mark Halperin
Time.com
Published: Tuesday, May 3, 2011; 9:40 pm ET
http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20110504/us_time/httpthepagetimecom20110503halperinstakemistakesweremadexidrssfullnationyahoo
According to Halperin:
“The major errors so far:
“1. Not getting its story straight,
“2. Not giving George W. Bush enough credit for helping bring bin Laden to justice,
“3. Letting the photo debate get out of control,
“4. Letting the debate about the war in Afghanistan get out of control,
“5. Letting the debate about Pakistan get out of control.”
What this amounts to is a lack of preparation for the outcome – whatever that might have been? The operators rehearsed and rehearsed again to make sure every man and dog knew exactly what their part was in the operation. Unfortunately, the politicos did not rehearse their part as well (if at all) as the shooters. The contrast in public perception remains large and dominant of the broader success story. Water under the bridge, now! It is quite sad that the politicos could not have been at least fractionally as professional as the strike team. We can only hope they learned the lesson and pass it onto their successors. Not having a clear, concise, consistent statement of facts in the aftermath seriously detracts from the magnificence of the field operation and reduces the credibility of the administration, which in turn raises doubts about the validity of any information provided. Major errors . . . indeed!

“Raid raises question: Who's soldier, who's spy?”
by Kimberly Dozier and Robert Burns
Associated Press
Posted: May 5, 2011; 3:04 AM EDT
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110505/ap_on_re_us/us_bin_laden_blurring_military_intelligence
Dozier & Burns noted accurately that Operation NEPTUNE SPEAR was executed by Navy SEALs under operational control of the DCI rather than SecDef. We add these voices to those illuminated above regarding the moral or ethical apprehension associated with a national level covert operation of this nature. While I rationalize such activities within our national interests, I must also confess to sharing that apprehension – an incredible amount of power in the hands of one man. Just as I have consistently advocated for a separation or barrier, or at least a very strong filter, between intelligence and law enforcement, I must now add my minute voice to the need for checks and balances between intelligence collection and operational execution. The President must have the power to “wage war successfully,” and that must include the means and methods to develop and act upon intelligence; however, the ability to take a single, specific, targeted life must have constraints. The targeting of an American citizen like Anwar al-Awlaki is far more problematic than Usama bin Ladin. Al-Awlaki is entitled to due process of law at least to the point of having his citizenship revoked or being declared persona non grata; from that point, he would be solely an enemy battlefield combatant like bin Ladin, and thus fair game for a targeted strike. As we have yet to properly reform intelligence operations for information collection and judicial prosecution, we also must reform covert operations in the same manner. If we do not carry out this reform, we will continue to experience erosion of our most fundamental civil rights, and worse we may not even recognize reality until the process has gone too far, as I suspect it has already and will continue to do so until we stop and reverse it. We cannot allow al-Qa’ida to win in this arena.

News from the economic front:
-- The European Central Bank left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 1.25%, despite recent evidence of mounting inflationary pressures across the European Economic Community.
-- The Bank of England also left its interest rate unchanged at a record low of 0.5%, in the face of weak UK economic data.
-- The United States Department of Labor reported the economy added 244,000 jobs in April, with the private sector adding all of the increase at 268,000 jobs – better than expected. The gain for March was revised to 221,000 from a previously reported 216,000.

Comments and contributions from Update no.489:
Comment to the Blog:
“To combine two of your subjects, the burial at sea of bin Laden will probably bring about an event similar to the birther accusations. As you appropriately point out, the birthers are not convinced by evidence even well beyond legal proof. Whoever wants to pick on the bin Laden killing will point out that no examination of the body is possible and will remind all who care that when Saddam Hussein was captured, he was displayed extensively to the entire world. Look for this to be protracted and strange.
“Chernobyl was indeed not a corporate incident, which shows that government entities need not face that particular kind of pressure to yield to the lure of risky ‘progress.’ My primary focus in this article is that governments have repeatedly neglected their duty to protect the population in favor of material progress. When we can say with assurance, ‘The safety systems must be operated by trained, conscientious professionals in order to avoid disaster,’ then governments (and operators, when they are not government) must assure that the training and conscientious operation take precedent over “progress” and/or profit. This is not an either/or situation, but a call for moderation. This planet cannot and should not attempt to return to ancient agrarian times. We should simply progress in a rational and safe manner.
“I agree with your stance that we must defend the freedoms of those we find repugnant or we cannot honestly claim to defend freedom. In my personal case, I find it much less difficult to defend the freedoms of pornographers and prostitutes than those of Fred Phelps and other fundamentalist religious crusaders. Nevertheless, to maintain my good conscience, I must support the right of all parties to hold and express their views. I would not allow any of them to harm others, but short of that, they are surely entitled to their beliefs and to try to live out those beliefs.”
My response to the Blog:
Well said and agreed. I made my statement on the foolish “birther” crap; I’m done. I’m still absorbing, learning and writing about the GERONIMO mission . . . more to follow I’m sure.
Once again, I think we agree regarding reasonable progress. You make a good point. Perhaps operators of potential large-scale threat systems (aircraft, nuclear powerplants, ships, deepwater drilling rigs, etc.) should be licensed, and operators annually certified competent by an independent regulator, but that would mean more government facilities and personnel. It works for pilots . . . for the most part.
Re: freedom & Phelps vs. prostitutes. Oh my, yes indeedie. The vitriol of the Phelps clan is truly injurious . . . inciting hatred rather than dialogue. The injuries associated with prostitution or pornography are largely generated by making it illegal or prohibition, just like the extraordinary damage done by mobsters during the alcohol prohibition era. The Supremes have protected the Phelps hateful speech. The foolish notion that government must protect fragile, vulnerable, hyper-sensitive citizens from the corrupting influence of pornography, gambling, prostitution, et cetera, is an out-dated, out-moded, ill-informed, antiquated remnant of the Victorian-era more than a century ago. Freedom is freedom. It is long past time for us to grow up and recognize reality.

My very best wishes to all. Take care of yourselves and each other.
Cheers,
Cap :-)