Slaying the US intelligence behemoth ( Middle East )

[Jefferson23]

Jul 24, 2010

By Philip Smucker

WASHINGTON - Most of the United States is still suffering through the final stages of a cataclysmic economic decline, but not so my home town of Alexandria, Virginia, nestled along the banks of the Potomac River, a silver dollar's toss away from the white marble statues of our founding fathers.

Recession - what recession? The military intelligence complex is thriving like never before as has been well described through the dog-days of July in the pages of the Washington Post.

A series of investigative reports in the Post have exposed the bloated beast of United States intelligence as is rarely done in the home of "Beltway bandits" and revolving door contracts.

It was the former US speaker of the House, Tip O'Neil, who said that "all politics is local". You would think that - a decade into this "war on terror" - that the US would have learned by now that all war and peace are also local. Al-Qaeda and other global jihadis are tapping into a broad audience of 1.2 billion Muslims, always looking to turn a few more in their favor.

Meanwhile, Washington concentrates its dollars on feeding a voracious beast with no brains.

remainder: http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/LG24Ak02.html