Scarborough scoop: How the Taliban’s double-agent bomber ambushed the CIA

posted at 9:39 pm on January 6, 2010 by Allahpundit

I’ve been watching new info trickle in for the past 24 hours, and the more I see, the number I get. He fed the agency honest-to-goodness actionable intelligence about jihadis to build up his credibility, to the point where he came to be regarded as their best asset in years. They looked the other way when he posted on jihadist online forums, accepting his assurances at face value that he was only saying what he was saying to fool the enemy — even though, of course, he wasn’t. Finally he told them that he had big news about Zawahiri, which drew a phalanx of CIA officers eager to land the biggest of the big fish. So eager, in fact, that he reportedly wasn’t given a polygraph before being taken to the base and was allowed to skip checkpoints before arriving at the rendezvous point.

Which brings us to Scarborough. According to his sources, the bomber detonated within seconds of stepping out of the car. How can that be, though? Wouldn’t the agents have been waiting for him in some sort of room? The only explanation I can come up with is that he told them he had info on Zawahiri that was extremely time-sensitive — so much so that they shouldn’t spare a second and should rush out to meet him when he pulled up. Is that what happened? Like I say, mind-numbing. Exit quotation: “I have no idea how a potential hostile ends up standing next to at least 13 CIA personnel… I have never heard of anything as unprofessional.”

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Unprofessional? In a Leon Panetta-led CIA?

Hard to believe…

sultanp on January 6, 2010 at 9:43 PM

he was only saying what he was saying to fool the enemy — even though, of course, he wasn’t.

He was fooling the enemy, we were his enemies…

javamartini on January 6, 2010 at 9:47 PM

This is so very sad.

Mojave Mark on January 6, 2010 at 9:47 PM

Live and learn. Or not.

unclesmrgol on January 6, 2010 at 9:48 PM

Lousy trade craft, lousy street smarts, lousy way to die.

coldwarrior on January 6, 2010 at 9:49 PM

“I have no idea how a potential hostile ends up standing next to at least 13 CIA personnel… I have never heard of anything as unprofessional.”

Well, for a group of the most maligned folks that serve our nation’s interests, maybe there was some eagerness to act upon some potentially good info from a guy that had built their trust. Guys that have served 24/7 to catch these guys may have been ready to get at this info and it cost them. It’d be different if the guy was at the gate yelling that he had Zawahiri and no one got off his bunk to talk to him–I guess that’d be like some other federal departments that shall remain nameless.

ted c on January 6, 2010 at 9:49 PM

“Relatives told AFP that Balawi had been radicalised by the devastating offensive which Israel launched on Gaza in December 2008.”

“The Israeli military operation in Gaza affected Humam and he wanted to join doctors of the Jordan Medical Association as a volunteer and go to Gaza,” said his brother asking for his given name to be withheld.

“Humam was angry because of the crimes committed by Israel in Gaza.”

David2.0 on January 6, 2010 at 9:50 PM

Unprofessional? In a Leon Panetta-led CIA?

Hard to believe…

sultanp on January 6, 2010 at 9:43 PM

Interesting. How is Leon Panetta responsible for this attack?

Proud Rino on January 6, 2010 at 9:51 PM

So sad. So so sad.

RIP to the officers killed

blatantblue on January 6, 2010 at 9:52 PM

What war on terror?

This shouldn’t be happening. Obama promised to close Gitmo so terrorists would no longer hate us. What’s their beef now?

fogw on January 6, 2010 at 9:53 PM

Zawahiri’s revenge.

More than bin Laden, really, I want to get the Doctor.

SteveMG on January 6, 2010 at 9:53 PM

well, if Scarborough says its unprofessional, you know damn well that it is unprofessional.

mike b (sp?) is not a favorite in my household.

kelley in virginia on January 6, 2010 at 9:54 PM

Oh man…..I bet he got some big fish too.

NeoKong on January 6, 2010 at 9:54 PM

It’s also scary that both the base commander and second in charge were both there. You would think those 2 would always be seperated just in case something like this would happen. It’s a hard lesson for the CIA to learn. I feel for the families of those who died in this attack. I’m surprised they are showing the press the video of the attack.

Brat4life on January 6, 2010 at 9:55 PM

i mean Mika (or whatever) is not my favorite. she is always so surprised if a Dem is mentioned in a negative way.

kelley in virginia on January 6, 2010 at 9:55 PM

naturally, the way to counter this explosion would be to blow the bejesus out of any half-way suspected terrorist camp. because that is the only thing they understand.

but nooooooo. terrorists have rights, dontcha know.

kelley in virginia on January 6, 2010 at 9:57 PM

Interesting. How is Leon Panetta responsible for this attack?

Proud Rino on January 6, 2010 at 9:51 PM

Nobody said he was. He was called unprofessional. Which he is, having absolutely no expertise in the area of gathering intelligence.

fogw on January 6, 2010 at 9:58 PM

And yet there are still people (olberbitch for one) who will dismiss the terrorist threat as being nothing because they are bumbling fools. Never underestimate the enemy.

aikidoka on January 6, 2010 at 9:58 PM

Finally he told them that he had big news about Zawahiri, which drew a phalanx of CIA officers eager to land the biggest of the big fish.

One would think that veteran intelligence personnel would view something too good to be true to be, well, too good to be true.

Something is very wrong with the CIA somewhere.

And why is there so much information on the tragic CIA debacle? What happened to secrecy? Perhaps that’s part of the problem.

SlaveDog on January 6, 2010 at 9:58 PM

Aren’t these the two who get WH update e-mails during their show? I don’t believe anything they say.

skree on January 6, 2010 at 9:58 PM

“I have no idea how a potential hostile ends up standing next to at least 13 CIA personnel… I have never heard of anything as unprofessional.”

(Obowma Administration)

And of course…

… it will be very non-politically correct to write any of this down to train future soldiers and intelligence agents on the tactics of our enemies for a war college course.

You might ‘offend’ somebody.

OK, break out the ‘affirmative action’ applications to fill the posts of the dead. We want to make sure we fill our ‘quota’. Make sure one is a woman.

How are those Court Martials of the Navy SEALs coming? Haven’t we found them guilty YET!

Get those intelligence techniques that will embarrass George W. Bush to the New York Times, STAT! I DON’T CARE if we are still using them!

Can’t you guys do ANYTHING right! I said cut a Billion from Defense, not a Million!!!

Maybe I should make another speech in Cairo…?

Seven Percent Solution on January 6, 2010 at 9:58 PM

The only explanation I can come up with is that he told them he had info on Zawahiri that was extremely time-sensitive — so much so that they shouldn’t spare a second and should rush out to meet him when he pulled up. Is that what happened?

Not to be insensitive, but maybe they all wanted to kiss his ass? Run up to the car and give him a hearty pat on the back and let him know they all trust him. He probably knew his. His mission was accomplished.

Nice of Andrea Mitchell (NBC Noooze) to mention Abu-Ghraib.

SouthernGent on January 6, 2010 at 9:59 PM

Unprofessional? In a Leon Panetta-led CIA?

Hard to believe…

sultanp on January 6, 2010 at 9:43 PM

You might consider stowing the sarcasm – you’re splashing some on dead CIA folks who’ve given a lot of service to this country before Panetta got his job at the top.

Midas on January 6, 2010 at 9:59 PM

There are a lot of people at State and various intelligence agencies who have set themselves up as autonomous agents, free to criticize, undermine, and disobey the executive (e.g. the 2007 NIE). My regret at the loss of these agents is tempered by my knowledge of that fact. In a word, the CIA and other agencies have lost a lot of credibility, favorable public opinion, and citizen support by their constant leaking via “sources not named because not authorized.” And now that they’ve been hamstrung by Obama’s threat of criminal prosecution and by the leadership of a political hack, they are sitting out there in the desert salavating for a big catch to rehabilitate their image.

GTR640 on January 6, 2010 at 9:59 PM

He fed the agency honest-to-goodness actionable intelligence about jihadis to build up his credibility, to the point where he came to be regarded as their best asset in years. They looked the other way when he posted on jihadist online forums, accepting his assurances at face value that he was only saying what he was saying to fool the enemy — even though, of course, he wasn’t.

Something eerie is I see a similarity here…

Reading this reminds me a last years election.

katy on January 6, 2010 at 10:00 PM

Lousy trade craft, lousy street smarts, lousy way to die.

coldwarrior on January 6, 2010 at 9:49 PM

While I don’t have the expertise that you do in these types of matters that was my initial reaction too.

thomasaur on January 6, 2010 at 10:03 PM

He fed the agency honest-to-goodness actionable intelligence about jihadis to build up his credibility

It’s more likely that he was feeding the agency good intelligence about how to wipe out Taliban warlords who were in a power struggle with his favored Taliban warlord, right up to the day where that usefulness was outlived.

Buddahpundit on January 6, 2010 at 10:04 PM

Good Gawd this country’s in the shidder.

ronsfi on January 6, 2010 at 10:05 PM

They just overlooked the basics. When you’re working with a double agent, you’re already working with a weasel. You verify everything. Tests, countersurveillances and other methods. Especially in that environment. You always suspect the possibility of re-doubling.

PaCadle on January 6, 2010 at 10:08 PM

AP, you’d be an excellent field agent. You are the most skeptical guy on the planet (I mean that as a compliment in this case). I could hear you now, “all of a sudden he knows where Zawahiri is and we all have to rush to him? I don’t think so.”

TheBigOldDog on January 6, 2010 at 10:09 PM

these poor guys got baited, and they bit on it. It’s not the president’s fault. The guys in the field know what they need to do. Something was up, they zoned in on it, and they paid for it. It’s a tragedy, something we can learn from and I commend them for their eagerness. They died trying.

ted c on January 6, 2010 at 10:10 PM

thomasaur on January 6, 2010 at 10:03 PM

Back in the day, I got to “handle” a few high value defectors from some pretty bad outfits. Just to cite one set of examples. At no point until all the bona fides were checked out and other examination/testing had been accomplished and there was no doubt at all as to where the defectors loyalties stood, were any more than two, sometimes three, ops officers allowed near the defector.

Yurchenko’s defection (and subsequent re-defection) was an anomaly back then, but he was no real threat to anyone. For the most part, a lot of guys from the usual Middle East bad guy groups at the time were handled one-on-one most of the time. Just in case.

We’ve lost a lot of expertise over the past decade or so. I’d owe this incident to excitement and wanting to believe…which is a major error in trade craft. Loss of focus. A literal killer.

Was there pressure to come through this time? Certainly. But was it such that the essentials were/should be disregarded? I my opinion, never.

coldwarrior on January 6, 2010 at 10:11 PM

They should have never trusted the guy, period. Good intel or not. I think once you go that far with the Jihad crap, you can never truly change. The fact the intel was regarding Zawahiri should have raised their suspicions even more, it was a little too good to be true.

echosyst on January 6, 2010 at 10:12 PM

In fairness, it’s hard to criticize them form a million miles away. They were obviously suckered good and excited at the thought of getting Zawahiri or some other top dog(s). Unless what they did went against all of their explicit training, I can understand how it could happen and how it could be an expensive lesson to the entire agency.

TheBigOldDog on January 6, 2010 at 10:12 PM

Oh, and everything assumes the media got the story right. Something they seldom do these days.

TheBigOldDog on January 6, 2010 at 10:14 PM

I don’t believe the facts of this story at all. I don’t blame the CIA though. They have to keep some secrets..

but I’ve been watching Spooks a lot lately (MI-5 in the US) so may have a skewed view right now.

Ampersand on January 6, 2010 at 10:14 PM

Nobody said he was. He was called unprofessional. Which he is, having absolutely no expertise in the area of gathering intelligence.

fogw on January 6, 2010 at 9:58 PM

I think he is..he is the head of the agency…where does the buck stop? someone has to take responsibility…in days past, the head of the CIA would have resigned if this had happened on his watch…but not now…just like 9/11 no one resigned, no one was fired, no one took responsibility…

right4life on January 6, 2010 at 10:15 PM

We Americans are a trusting people. We have also weakened/softened our military and intelligence communities. Thanks Pat Schroeder!

If we don’t get back to a more hard ass, no holes barred, trust but verify attitude again, we will lose this war and our country.

Give me a Patton any day!

katy on January 6, 2010 at 10:17 PM

Sorry, waaayyy OT, but is anyone here familiar with John McKnight and Jody Kretzmann of the Asset Based Community Development Institute? I know they have had some contact/influence on the Obamas. I’m on a city neighborhood partnership board and the mayor and other board members are trying to shove a ABCD program down our throats.

Any info is appreciated.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming.

pugwriter on January 6, 2010 at 10:17 PM

No one should be jumping to conclusions on the thoughts of the CIA officers killed.

blatantblue on January 6, 2010 at 10:18 PM

coldwarrior on January 6, 2010 at 10:11 PM

I agree.
Hopfully CIA will learn from this and lastly, God bless the fallen and the hurt and thier families.

Gracelynn on January 6, 2010 at 10:21 PM

Central Intelligence Gullibility Agency.

What would it have hurt to search this guy, or to search anybody, ever?

If this covert jihadi didn’t appreciate this kind of security measure, he could have resigned in protest and headed back to Jordan to practice medicine.

Better to lose one supposed turncoat than 8 agents.

profitsbeard on January 6, 2010 at 10:23 PM

I think I would like to wait and see what the final verdict is released. I do not want to denigrate the CIA men and women for incompetence until more information comes in. We have heard the bomb was set off indoors and now maybe outdoors at the car. I have nothing but respect for these CIA field operatives at the moment.

bluemarlin on January 6, 2010 at 10:24 PM

I think I would like to wait and see what the final verdict is released. I do not want to denigrate the CIA men and women for incompetence until more information comes in. We have heard the bomb was set off indoors and now maybe outdoors at the car. I have nothing but respect for these CIA field operatives at the moment.

bluemarlin on January 6, 2010 at 10:24 PM

++++++10023409e0

blatantblue on January 6, 2010 at 10:26 PM

blatantblue on January 6, 2010 at 10:18 PM

Based on the prima facie evidence/disclosures thus far, not jumping to conclusions. Just basing what happened as weighed against fundamental/essential elements of trade craft. Too many loopholes/gaps in the events leading up to the explosion. Cannot fathom a logical reason for so many from the base being in such close proximity to the bomber. Likewise, cannot fathom any logical reason for the bomber being permitted to be recused/exempted from a basic security check/pat down prior to entering the compound. Cannot fathom a logical reason for the bomber not being met before entering the compound and the information obtained first, passed to the base, and then, if warranted, his being permitted on the compound.

coldwarrior on January 6, 2010 at 10:27 PM

What would it have hurt to search this guy, or to search anybody, ever?

Maybe I’ve seen too many spy flicks, but shouldn’t double agents expect that kind of caution at every encounter? It’s like marrying the woman you stole from another man–do you really trust her?

pugwriter on January 6, 2010 at 10:27 PM

Thank you for posting this, AP.

Given that this show was broadcast on MSNBC nobody with an IQ higher than a carrot would have seen it.

Bruno Strozek on January 6, 2010 at 10:28 PM

right4life on January 6, 2010 at 10:15 PM

When it comes to the CIA this administration will go out of it’s way to protect it’s own. That’s why Panetta will get a pass.

On the other hand, AG Holder was ready to give up the address and phone numbers of CIA agents to the ACLU lawyers looking out for the “detainees”.

Nothing makes much sense anymore.

fogw on January 6, 2010 at 10:29 PM

This was also an isolated incident…

right2bright on January 6, 2010 at 10:31 PM

The accused suicide bomber…

Seven Percent Solution on January 6, 2010 at 10:33 PM

slavedog pinpointed the problem:

Something is very wrong with the CIA somewhere.

Yes, I do hold Panetta responsible. He has no business being in his current job. I meant no offense to the CIA workers who gave their lives, but try to picture what the agency would be like if someone like Jack Reacher (yes, I know, a fictional character) were in charge. Would this have happened under his watch? I don’t think so. We don’t need amateurs in these positions. There is no time for a learning curve here.

sultanp on January 6, 2010 at 10:36 PM

coldwarrior on January 6, 2010 at 10:27 PM

I guess it could old be one big rouse. Maybe they just want the world to think he was wildly “successful.” Who knows…

TheBigOldDog on January 6, 2010 at 10:50 PM

I heard a report that he was asked to remove his hands from his pants pocket, they may have been suspicious, and that is when he detonated the device, earlier then he had planned.

LifeTrek on January 6, 2010 at 10:56 PM

And why is there so much information on the tragic CIA debacle? What happened to secrecy? Perhaps that’s part of the problem.

SlaveDog on January 6, 2010 at 9:58 PM

It’s baffling to me too.

I have a real fear about this. I fear that AQ is willing to narc out their own for drone attacks in order to gain trust to get in deep. If you think about, it’s no different than the actual suicide bomber in terms of sacrifice. They put a big red target on a few of their loyal jihadist in a jeep? Those guys still died for the cause and will be martyred! What’s even scarier to think about is if it’s a known within – AQ cappo knows he’ll be sold down the river and is coll with it.

Topsecretk9 on January 6, 2010 at 11:05 PM

I don’t necessarily believe anything I see on MSNBC, but I think that we have to accept that something went horribly wrong due to imprudent actions on the part of CIA.

Do our CIA personnel speak arabic? I get the bad feeling that, unlike the Israelis, we don’t really know enough about these people’s culture to get inside their heads and deal effectively with them. Were we relying on the Jordanians for this? Why?

I think we need to go back to square one on our entire Afghanistan effort. Do we know what we’re doing there?

chris999 on January 6, 2010 at 11:08 PM

One can only hope the CIA reacts/readjusts better to this attack than the TSA did to the pantybomber.

I assume this will be a sad, forever example of what not to do in the CIA handbook.

TexasDan on January 6, 2010 at 11:10 PM

“Relatives told AFP that Balawi had been radicalised by the devastating offensive which Israel launched on Gaza in December 2008.”

David2.0 on January 6, 2010 at 9:50 PM

I thought that as soon as we close Gitmo then the jihad will end. /s

slp on January 6, 2010 at 11:12 PM

We are a trusting people by nature. Our enemy has no such encumbrance.
We are at war against savages.

FireBlogger on January 6, 2010 at 11:14 PM

More stars on the wall. More blood on Obama’s hands.

chicagojedi on January 6, 2010 at 11:17 PM

Back in the day, I got to “handle” a few high value defectors from some pretty bad outfits. Just to cite one set of examples. At no point until all the bona fides were checked out and other examination/testing had been accomplished and there was no doubt at all as to where the defectors loyalties stood, were any more than two, sometimes three, ops officers allowed near the defector.

Yurchenko’s defection (and subsequent re-defection) was an anomaly back then, but he was no real threat to anyone. For the most part, a lot of guys from the usual Middle East bad guy groups at the time were handled one-on-one most of the time. Just in case.

We’ve lost a lot of expertise over the past decade or so. I’d owe this incident to excitement and wanting to believe…which is a major error in trade craft. Loss of focus. A literal killer.

Was there pressure to come through this time? Certainly. But was it such that the essentials were/should be disregarded? I my opinion, never.

coldwarrior on January 6, 2010 at 10:11 PM

While I know little of your example, this case is in a “nation building” context. This ain’t Nicaragua, Angola or some Mideast clusterf-ck.

We can speculate all day long as to the actual bomb technology, background, and reasons for any change of attitude of the sc-mbag, if there was one. I’m too tired for all that. Perhaps tomorrow.

toliver on January 6, 2010 at 11:17 PM

FireBlogger on January 6, 2010 at 11:14 PM

We should have snapped to that fact decades ago after we lost all those people in Beirut bombings of the embassy and the military barracks.

chris999 on January 6, 2010 at 11:18 PM

When this story was in the headlines earlier today I said that he gave up AQ leaders to gain the CIA’s trust. 1)Zawahiri actually approved giving up high value names and those guys knew a missile would soon be coming after them and they already had picked out new leaders or 2) Zawahiri gave him permission to give up those names without telling them and he could be on this ice with whoever is left

So, who are the new leaders?

journeyintothewhirlwind on January 6, 2010 at 11:24 PM

What a load of bull. All of a sudden we need to provide cover for the CIA? – just when the story is starting to bubble up.

Double agents, blah blah blah. People of this type don’t suddenly become suicide bombers. What is the situation with his family?

Agrippa2k on January 6, 2010 at 11:31 PM

After what we’ve seen from this administration, regardless of grave protocol errors the on our part…it somehow doesn’t seem too ridiculous to fathom the identity of the spy/bomber was sacrificed to the enemy in return for God knows what…only to have him show up at our camp under the guise of monumental intel…strapped with a bomb he was threatened to carry or harm would be done on his family.

It does’t explain why our boys lined up in numbers for the massacre regardless of common sense and standard protocol(unless he truly was a trusted source), but perhaps explains why the bomber detonated so quickly…perhaps remotely from enemy onlookers who saw the opportunity. Am I so naive to not comprehend how we could have it so wrong from an agency that helped write the history pages and how tos on spy/counter spy…without there being some silent factor involved?

selias on January 6, 2010 at 11:33 PM

As the bomber felt he could access the base unmolested whilst carrying a bomb, one has to assume that this was not his first free waltz onto the base.

Maquis on January 6, 2010 at 11:35 PM

Nullified basic rules, killed them.

Trust=death. Severe lack of trust=victory, and life.

Speakup on January 6, 2010 at 11:41 PM

was allowed to skip checkpoints before arriving at the rendezvous point.

Even McChrystal should have to go through checkpoints.

MB4 on January 6, 2010 at 11:57 PM

Nullified basic rules, killed them.

Trust=death. Severe lack of trust=victory, and life.

Speakup on January 6, 2010 at 11:41 PM

Indeed. This seems like the most primal common sense for a crew of agents risking their lives in the enemy’s playground…let alone any agent. Like CIA counterintelligence 101.

All things being equal…was must assume that at least 13 brave men all had this lapse in judgment, along with the individuals escorting the guy into camp.

Does that seem tangible? Is there something the American public is overlooking or being sold a bill of false goods on?

selias on January 7, 2010 at 12:02 AM

Agreed, selias. There is something hugely wrong with this story.

This guy just rides into the base and the bomb explodes in his anal cavity as he steps out of the car as ALL 13 CIA and other coalition intel people are gathered around him?

I call BS.

victor82 on January 7, 2010 at 12:05 AM

REFORMED TERRORISTS ARE FULL OF HOLES lying in a puddle of their own sh!t.

Panetta and Obama trust the enemy + put us all in danger.

Obama voters owe an apology to their families. Condolences and prayers are the best I can offer.

Reality Check on January 7, 2010 at 12:17 AM

Let’s keep in mind that there are two CIAs: In one, tough, hard-working people live in awful conditions one slip-up away from a nasty, anonymous death. And two, where a bunch of politically-motivated careerist hacks play back-room games to further their own–and their political party’s–interests. It’s pretty obvious which one we’re talking about here. We will probably never now why or how six of these heroes really lost their lives, but it does seem awfully strange that their guard was down to such a fatal extent.

God’s speed to them and their families.

PD Quig on January 7, 2010 at 12:23 AM

Andrea Mitchell mentions Abu Ghraib, but who turned Abu Ghraib into Auschwitz II for international consumption? The leftist mainstream press did. Abu Ghraib was about a handful of sadistic dirtbag MPs, reservists from West Virginia, who got bored on nightshift and took there boredom out on prisoners. The press found out about from the Army itself. The Army was already investigating it as a crime. The famous pictures were taken with an MP’s private pocket camera, so that he could email them to his dirtbag friends back home to laugh about.

RBMN on January 7, 2010 at 12:31 AM

This might seem dumb, but is their a possibility that the SBomber was detected by AQ to be working w/cia and told his family would die if he didn’t do a suicide bombing?

Topsecretk9 on January 7, 2010 at 12:41 AM

Nevermind on my stupid theory I guess

– side bar

Topsecretk9 on January 7, 2010 at 12:54 AM

Does that seem tangible? Is there something the American public is overlooking or being sold a bill of false goods on?

selias on January 7, 2010 at 12:02 AM

The intel community has taken a lot of hard hits from this version of the Church II liberal doctrine, morale is down but none of that can come into play where the rubber meets the gravel.

I hope the new CIA learns a lesson from the old one and takes some sweet cold vengeance.

Revenge, only your contractor knows for sure.

Speakup on January 7, 2010 at 12:55 AM

I left out an important point.

Their pain, your gain.

Speakup on January 7, 2010 at 1:01 AM

The Obama administration is a f’ing joke. Commander Zero and his amateur hour team have made everyone less safe.

That said, the CIA has become near useless, the military can handle intel needs much more efficiently and effectively. If they really want to save some money in the federal budget, dismantling the CIA is a great place to start.

ray on January 7, 2010 at 1:06 AM

javamartini on January 6, 2010 at 9:47 PM

Yes. This is further evidence that the present intel community is really dumb when it comes to their knowledge of Islam.

They looked the other way when he posted online to jihadi sites? Really? They believed him when he said it was to fool the enemy? Really? Have they never heard of Taqiyya?

The CIA operatives need to be retrained by people who really know Islam. They need to stop paying attention to CAIR and their cohorts. They need to get rid of the Muslims in their midst. They need to start paying attention and being a lot smarter.

It used to bother me when Bush started pushing the line about Muslims being peaceful, but now with the present clown in the White House I see cause to be scared because of that willingness to look the other way when these people are committing acts of terror right under their noses.

maggieo on January 7, 2010 at 1:37 AM

chris999 on January 6, 2010 at 11:08 PM

Do not blame the Jordanians. The bomber was a Jordanian-Palestinian. I am not buying the comment that he was radicalized as a result of the Gaza attack by Israel. That is just taqiyya by his family.

Jordan has had its share of terrorist attacks and they also have a stake in getting the AQ leaders.

The Jordanian agent who died was trustworthy. I am surprised that he was not suspicious of this other person. More like he was just doing his job, and he probably really did think that the bomber was bringing home the big fish – keep in mind that Zawahiri is a Jordanian, and that the bomber came from the same village.

I still think that these CIA agents did some rather dumb things in this instance… but giving them the benefit of the doubt, I think that perhaps their rules of engagement had been changed so that they threw caution to the wind.

maggieo on January 7, 2010 at 2:11 AM

So,this happened on Team Liberals watch,
interesting me thinks!!

canopfor on January 7, 2010 at 2:35 AM

Why in the world would it ever take thirteen people to get information?

Cindy Munford on January 7, 2010 at 2:48 AM

When I was a cop(in another lifetime) whenever cops were shot, the incident became a Training Tape. We discected the incident and

flameofjudah on January 7, 2010 at 2:54 AM

oops…’

Tried to figure out what went wrong — officer at fault or whatever..Always we learned from the incident…

Let’s hope our CIA does.

flameofjudah on January 7, 2010 at 2:56 AM

Between this horror, the Nigerian bomber and the Fort Hood jihadist, never has so much been leaked to the media in so short a time by so many so-called “intelligence” and “government sources.” While attempted Congressional investigations are stonewalled by the White House.

The porousness of anonymous information is as disturbing, and revealing, as the attacks themselves.

Nichevo on January 7, 2010 at 3:37 AM

Between this horror, the Nigerian bomber and the Fort Hood jihadist, never has so much been leaked to the media in so short a time by so many so-called “intelligence” and “government sources.” While attempted Congressional investigations are stonewalled by the White House.

The porousness of anonymous information is as disturbing, and revealing, as the attacks themselves.

Nichevo on January 7, 2010 at 3:37 AM

The gatekeepers has priorities.

the_nile on January 7, 2010 at 4:13 AM

I don’t know about you but in general I’m a paranoid SOB. Situational awareness runs deep in me and I’d never have let this person get within a mile of me without being checked out first.

1) He was by all rights a traitor to his own “people” for informing therfore not to be trusted as far as could be tossed.

2) To a degree security is a way of life to some folks, I doubt that an informant would be offended to being patted down before having an audience with a leader.

I smell people being lax and in this case it killed.

gdonovan on January 7, 2010 at 6:59 AM

What else is there to be expected when one of the hosts of Morning Blow (I mean Joe) is the daughter of Zbigniew Brzezinski, founder of the Trilateral Commission and National Security Adviser to Jimmuh Carter, and the man who founded Al-Qaeda, which DOES NOT EXIST??

WAKE UP NEOCONS!

BobAnthony on January 7, 2010 at 7:16 AM

Muhammad said, “War is deceit.”

Disturb the Universe on January 7, 2010 at 8:10 AM

Lesson Learned… You can’t trust any of these hysterical self-righteous book-burning carpet-kissing muppets with $#!+ for brains. And this WAR needs to be fought by every free-thinking person on the planet.

ronnyraygun on January 7, 2010 at 8:10 AM

[...]

The Jordanian agent who died was trustworthy. I am surprised that he was not suspicious of this other person. More like he was just doing his job, and he probably really did think that the bomber was bringing home the big fish – keep in mind that Zawahiri is a Jordanian, and that the bomber came from the same village.

[...]

maggieo on January 7, 2010 at 2:11 AM

Two great comments on jihad, taqiyya, the Jordanian stake in the war, etc. But I think this part might be off. As I recall it, Zawahiri is an Egyptian. But this part caught my eye from one of the stories on this: the bomber here came from the Jordanian village of Zarqa.

Which is of course the hometown of that ultra-sadistic piece of trash Zarqawi. Or it was his hometown until our side finally caught up with him and put him out of everyone’s misery. The Zarkman… loved seeing him burn his hands on his own gun!

Topsecret’s link upthread (12:54 AM) has a picture of the bomber, and his name, Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi. Sounds like he’s had the usual Palestinian hate-on against US and Israel for a very long time.

Agam on January 7, 2010 at 8:14 AM

Muhammad said, “War is deceit.”

Disturb the Universe on January 7, 2010 at 8:10 AM

Yes he did. He also said, “I don’t care if she is only 9 years old. She’s my wife and I’ll do with her as I please.” The sick twisted Piece of $#!+.

ronnyraygun on January 7, 2010 at 8:16 AM

But I thought everyone loves us now that barry is president.

deadenders on January 7, 2010 at 8:39 AM

Yes, ronnyraygun, he was a sick POS. In many, many ways.

Unfortunately, our CIA didn’t learn the lesson it should have learned when it trusted another Muslim counter-agent Ali Mohamed. And because our government officials persist in their delusions that Islam is a ROP, people countinue to die.

Disturb the Universe on January 7, 2010 at 8:43 AM

Giving new credence to the term “man-made disaster”—an apt name for the Obambi administration…

lovingmyUSA on January 7, 2010 at 8:53 AM

Disturb the Universe on January 7, 2010 at 8:43 AM

Amen Brother…

ronnyraygun on January 7, 2010 at 8:55 AM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mztfFdpd1Rk
Al-Qaeda, which DOES NOT EXIST??

WAKE UP NEOCONS!

BobAnthony on January 7, 2010 at 7:16 AM

Please tell me you do not believe that link you provided…It is too early and I haven’t had enough coffee…

lovingmyUSA on January 7, 2010 at 9:02 AM

It was unproffesional, but it is also understandable.

These were heroes, out in the field, doing their duty. The guy had built up trust and these CIA agents were eager to get some good info and act on it. We should not make light of their sacrafice or the mistakes that cost them their lives.

I hope that all agencies learn from this and actually use protocols even with trusted assets in the future to avoid recurrences.

Monkeytoe on January 7, 2010 at 9:21 AM

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