In October of 1985, four Soviet diplomats were taken hostage by Suni muslims in Beriut, Lebanon. One hostage was killed. The KGB dispatched their alpha team, and the prepatrators and their relatives were identified by KGB operators. The relatives were then taken hostage, and because the KGB had a policy of no negotiation, started sending severed body parts back to muslim leaders with the warning that more would follow if the diplomats were not released immediately. They were, and no Russian diplomats were taken hostage for the next twenty years. Some would claim that as torture. Others would say that that's the price you pay for the games you play. But, in dealing with terrorists and their minions, clarity and results can be achieved in the fog of war by acting decisively and ruthlessly with no quarter asked for or given. The fantasy that rests in the minds of those who believe that negotiation and kindness can ultimately lead to a lasting peace anywhere, have not learned the lessons of history. Reality is another story entirely, and in the final analysis, the KGB had the right idea.
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The Lawyer and The Caterpillar
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It is not hard to imagine the impact of all this scrutiny and exposure on the CIA. A longtime CIA official who recently retired ruminated, not for attribution, about the low state of morale at the agency. Old intelligence hands are made weary and cynical by a familiar cycle: a crisis happens (in this case, September 11); the CIA is ordered to take the gloves off; agency officials protest that they will be blamed if anything goes wrong; they are reassured by the politicians and lawyers that they will be protected. But things go wrong (as they usually do in the murky world of covert operations), and the agency is hung out to dry. In a democracy, that's the way it really works. No one should be surprised if, after the next terrorist attack, the intelligence community is blamed for being risk-averse. Still, the CIA and the Justice Department have to obey the rules.
© 2009
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