I've written numerous times before that I believe President Bush secretly stepped up operations to wipe out al-Qaeda as much as possible before he's out of office--especially should the election winner be Barack Obama. I guess I had it right (except the NY Times ensures it's no longer secret):
The United States military since 2004 has used broad, secret authority to carry out nearly a dozen previously undisclosed attacks against Al Qaeda and other militants in Syria, Pakistan and elsewhere, according to senior American officials.
These military raids, typically carried out by Special Operations forces, were authorized by a classified order that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld signed in the spring of 2004 with the approval of President George W. Bush, the officials said. The secret order gave the military new authority to attack the Qaeda terrorist network anywhere in the world, and a more sweeping mandate to conduct operations in countries not at war with the United States.
Except, as one reads on, they got cold feet during some of the more intense operations.
It seems it was a well-thought out strategy whereby it streamlined operations while also leaving open lines of communication so that we could disavow some aspects were an operation to go wrong yet still leave the military planners some free rein to move on actionable intel.
I'm guessing that President-elect Obama will kill this executive order while instituting others that will have separate, yet far-reaching effect.
Posts
1 comment:
US already backing down and Obama isn't even in office yet, pretty scary to me. I think this says who is for us and against us. Looks like someone is watching out for those that are against us. I think Bush may get the praise he deserved before the next 4 years ends.
Post a Comment