LOOK AT THIS MOTHERFUCKING NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE ESTIMATE!

[Cain]

Have a look at this long-ass report about intelligence and shit

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-afghan-review-20101215,0,6765262.story

This beautiful motherfucking document was produced by National Intelligence Council made up of - wait for it! SIXTEEN, that's 10 + 6, count 'em, intelligence agencies, meant to be the absolute authoritative documents of the National Intelligence Director (or "Big Daddy I", as he likes to be called).

Anyway, this most bad-ass of all intelligence documents is contradicting previous, less awesome documents from the Pentagon, stating the war in Afghanistan and Pakistan is like, not really all that awesome, and tends to chew on expensive toys and shit.

The NIE responds to the name "this war is totally fucked".

[LMNO]

This country needs more serious IR reporting clothed in foul-mouthed memes.  For realsies.


Cain wins yet another internets.

[Phox]

Have a look at this long-ass report about intelligence and shit

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-afghan-review-20101215,0,6765262.story

This beautiful motherfucking document was produced by National Intelligence Council made up of - wait for it! SIXTEEN, that's 10 + 6, count 'em, intelligence agencies, meant to be the absolute authoritative documents of the National Intelligence Director (or "Big Daddy I", as he likes to be called).

Anyway, this most bad-ass of all intelligence documents is contradicting previous, less awesome documents from the Pentagon, stating the war in Afghanistan and Pakistan is like, not really all that awesome, and tends to chew on expensive toys and shit.

The NIE responds to the name "this war is totally fucked".

Two paragraphs in, and this is already fantastic.

[Phox]

On Tuesday, military officers hotly contested the intelligence estimates, saying they are "dated" because the review period ended in September, as the last of additional American forces were arriving in Afghanistan. The defense officials said the assessments did not reflect recent gains.

"You are missing at least 2 1/2 months of intensive operations with the full complement of surge forces," said a senior defense official, who added that intelligence analysts lack the "proximity and perspective that our forces have who are on the ground living this every single day."

[Cain]

Nothing will change as a result of this, understand.  Pentagon ran rings around Obama in 09 and locked him into the AFPAK SURGE!!112121?!  It's now his war.  His baby, his legacy.

Once they sold the Boy Prince on escalation, he was trapped.  More escalation = more local kids turning to the jihadis, and more international jihadis turning up looking for a scrap, and more radicalized Muslims in America and Europe.  Which in turn justifies more troops to continue more fighting ad infinitum.

Besides, ever since Cheney successfully leaned on Tenet to come out with his incredibly sloppy and politicized 2002 NIE, no-one really listens to them anymore anyway.  They don't quite have the Gold Standard they used to, rather like all these Triple A bond ratings which turned out to be slapped on junk investments.

[Phox]

Nothing will change as a result of this, understand.  Pentagon ran rings around Obama in 09 and locked him into the AFPAK SURGE!!112121?!  It's now his war.  His baby, his legacy.

Once they sold the Boy Prince on escalation, he was trapped.  More escalation = more local kids turning to the jihadis, and more international jihadis turning up looking for a scrap, and more radicalized Muslims in America and Europe.  Which in turn justifies more troops to continue more fighting ad infinitum.

Besides, ever since Cheney successfully leaned on Tenet to come out with his incredibly sloppy and politicized 2002 NIE, no-one really listens to them anymore anyway.  They don't quite have the Gold Standard they used to, rather like all these Triple A bond ratings which turned out to be slapped on junk investments.

Of course nothing is going to change. But that doesn't mean it isn't good for some laughs.

[Requia ☣]

Didn't Obama campaign on escalation in AFPAK?

[The Good Reverend Roger]

I've heard this song before.  The original version was done by Lyndon Baines Johnson, IIRC.

[Disco Pickle]

I've heard this song before.  The original version was done by Lyndon Baines Johnson, IIRC.

that sounds right.

I seem to recall he campaigned on Goldwater being the warmonger too.

[Cain]

Didn't Obama campaign on escalation in AFPAK?

Yep, though there were always question marks as to what degree and how much of this was posturing to offset the antiwar label he had gained from his stance on Iraq.  But once he was in office, the COINdinista made a concerted effort to woo him, and succeeded. 

Incidentally, bombing raids over Afghanistan are being stepped up again.  Usually they are relaxed over the winter months, but they're tripling the amount of bombings that have been carried out at this time in previous years.  Which should be fun.  Of course, with the Taliban now practically holding 2/3rds of the country, dropping some in their territory shouldn't be very hard...

[The Good Reverend Roger]

I've heard this song before.  The original version was done by Lyndon Baines Johnson, IIRC.

that sounds right.

I seem to recall he campaigned on Goldwater being the warmonger too.

Goldwater WAS a warmonger, who thought nukes were an acceptable solution to many problems.

"Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice."
- Barry Goldwater

"Extremism in the defense of extremism is no vice."
- J.R. "Bob" Dobbs

[Disco Pickle]

I've heard this song before.  The original version was done by Lyndon Baines Johnson, IIRC.

that sounds right.

I seem to recall he campaigned on Goldwater being the warmonger too.

Goldwater WAS a warmonger, who thought nukes were an acceptable solution to many problems.

"Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice."
- Barry Goldwater

"Extremism in the defense of extremism is no vice."
- J.R. "Bob" Dobbs

well yeah, he was.  no disputing that.  but at least he was honest about getting us involved.

"We are not about to send American boys nine or ten thousand miles away from home to do what Asian boys ought to be doing for themselves." -- LBJ

[The Good Reverend Roger]

I've heard this song before.  The original version was done by Lyndon Baines Johnson, IIRC.

that sounds right.

I seem to recall he campaigned on Goldwater being the warmonger too.

Goldwater WAS a warmonger, who thought nukes were an acceptable solution to many problems.

"Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice."
- Barry Goldwater

"Extremism in the defense of extremism is no vice."
- J.R. "Bob" Dobbs

well yeah, he was.  no disputing that.  but at least he was honest about getting us involved.

"We are not about to send American boys nine or ten thousand miles away from home to do what Asian boys ought to be doing for themselves." -- LBJ

Yeah, he was honest about wanting to drop nukes on any nation left of center.

How admirable!

[Cain]

Wasn't Mao at that time still on his "China can absorb all the nuclear weapons you can throw at us" schtick?

That could've turned out, uh, badly.