Former CIA analyst Michael Scheuer discusses the open letter [.pdf] he and other former CIA officials wrote to George Tenet, the responsibility Tenet bears for the war and for failing to kill Osama bin Laden in the 1990’s, his excuse(?) that the “slam dunk” referred to lying us into war rather than the presence of WMD, Dick Durbin’s recent admission that he knew the war was based on lies and his responsibility for staying quiet, the Constitution’s requirement that Congress hold responsibility for declaring war, his belief that Osama is still alive, al Qaeda’s ability to quickly replace their leadership, Bush’s renewed invocation of Osama to justify the war in Iraq and threats against Iran and the fact that there was no pre-war link between Iraq and al Qaeda.
MP3 here. (17: 10)
Michael Scheuer is a 22-year veteran of the CIA and the author of Imperial Hubris: Why the West Is Losing the War on Terror.
I just watched a short interview on CNN World today (10 September) with Michael Scheuer. As currently the only active native-born American priest in Egypt who has worked there for 17 of the last 25 years, Mr. Scheuer calls it as it is. I have been trying to wake Americans up for years to the US government’s responsibility in the mess the world is in thanks to our Middle East policies, especially in supporting the Israeli government in whatever it does. If anyone really loves the US and Israel, they would go after the politicians who run our countries and elect true leaders who work for justice which does NOT equate with blind support for Israel. Israel and the US are addicted to power and both need to shed their arrogance and humbly seek what is best for ALL the people of the region, including the Palestinians. Sixteen years ago, Jewish professor Marc Ellis said that “in five years, it will be too late”. That was eleven years ago! I now also feel it is too late thanks to the self-fulfilling prophesies of the Christian Zionists who seem to pick up where Israeli lobbies leave off. Hats off to people like Michael Scheuer who are true patiots and not ignorant nationalists. Doug May, M.M.