RE: Landmines RE: US Foreign Policy Re: *DO* we share a civilization?

[Baardwijk, J. van DTO/SLBD/BGM/SVM/SGM]

> -----Oorspronkelijk bericht-----
> Van: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> Verzonden: Wednesday, August 22, 2001 6:54 PM
> Aan: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Onderwerp: Re: Landmines RE: US Foreign Policy Re: *DO* we share a
> civilization?

> While it's certainly possible that the government should have known
> what was coming, the fact remains that it did not.  In fact the story 
> of American military intelligence is largely the story of repeated
> failures, I would argue.  We didn't predict Pearl Harbor.  We didn't
> predict the first Korean War.  We didn't predict the fall of the Shah
> Iran.  We didn't predict the fall of the Soviet Union.  We didn't
> predict the fall of the Soviet Union.  We didn't predict the Iraqi
> invasion of Kuwait.

You mean, after decades of failing to predict several major events, the CIA
still hasn't reorganised itself into an organisation that's actually capable
of doing what the taxpayers are paying them for? Yikes...


> The argument that we can stop a North Korean invasion because we would
> know about it in advance, given that rather dismal record, is nothing
> less than absurd.

Given that I wasn't aware that the CIA was *that* bad at predicting major
events, (or *that* good at completely failing to see them coming), I think
it's somewhat over the top to call that statement "absurd".


Jeroen

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