pynchon-l-digest V2 #2096

[FrodeauxB at aol.com]

Late, as usual, but I feel compelled to comment. FDR found a way around the 
Supreme Court problem. He waited for them to die off and put his folks in 
their place. 
That's why he's called the lion and the fox.
Something to thunk about:

Ultimately, the hope for an effective intelligence coalition is
chimerical. To the extent that there will be one, the coalition
will limit the ability of the United States to operate. Partners
will skew data and will naturally limit operations on their soil.
On the other hand, simply going it alone is impossible. The
United States cannot go to war on the soil of allies -- at least
not a wholesale war.

A two-tiered strategy is required. On one level, the coalition
will have its uses and will provide cover. However,
responsibility for the intelligence war ultimately cannot be
shared. It is an American mission and an American duty. It also
places operational imperatives on the United States that make it
essential to have efficiencies that coalition warfare does not
permit.

The United States must unravel al-Qa'ida's network without having
the main effort sapped by attacks on peripheral relationships.
There will be time enough for that later. Rather, the task of
U.S. intelligence is to look for bin Laden's necessary
vulnerabilities -- people, money, buildings. When those are found
to be of sufficient importance, they must be destroyed using
secret U.S. forces deployed around the world, frequently without
the knowledge or permission of the host country. And if these
forces are captured, Washington, like Israel does, will deny
everything. If they are killed, they will be forgotten, except
for a star on a wall in Langley, Va.

It goes without saying that the U.S. intelligence community needs
reform. Some will say that can't be done in wartime. In fact,
most military and intelligence reforms take place exactly at that
time because that is when business as usual is most dangerous.

Turning the intelligence community from a collector of the arcane
into a war-fighting instrument is the key. That, along with
cunning and ruthlessness, may defeat al-Qa'ida. It will be long
and unpleasant, and there will be counterattacks.

And for our German friends:
And Russia is doing its best to sell itself. Putin told a group
of German industrialists in Essen, Germany, Sept. 26 that "in
case of regional conflicts breaking out, Russia is prepared to
supply more oil."

The speech came on the same day that German Chancellor Gerhard
Schroeder indicated a change in Berlin's stance on Russia's war
in Chechnya from one of barely concealed condemnation to an
understanding of Russia's challenges in fighting terrorism.

That's what you get when you get your news/information/intelligence from 
multiple...er, diverse sources.
TTFN

frodeauxb