How the CIA Views Bin Laden

People asking for the reform of the CIA don't seem to really have the stomach for it. However, if Michael Scheuer's views are indicative, then it's no wonder that the CIA failed so miserably over the last 15 years in understanding terrorism. Scheuer, late of the CIA, recall, was the anonymous author of a book entitled Imperial Hubris - How the West is Losing the War on Terror. Here's some of the transcript from his appearance on Tim Russert's show this weekend.

MR. RUSSERT: Do you think Osama is still fully in control of al-Qaeda?

MR. SCHEUER: I think it's wishful thinking to think that he isn't, sir. The one example is the tremendous sophistication and spontaneity of his media machine. There has to be some command and control there. And to imagine that it doesn't--that he's unable to do it is just absolutely incorrect. He's really a remarkable man, a great man in many ways, without the connotation positive or negative. He's changed the course of history. You just have to try to take your fourth-graders' class to the White House visitors' center...

MR. RUSSERT: When you say "great man," people cringe.

MR. SCHEUER: Yes, sir. Absolutely they cringe, but a great man is someone--a great individual is someone who changes the course of history. And certainly in the last five or six years, America has changed dramatically in the way we behave, in the way we travel. Certainly he's bleeding us to death in terms of money. Look at the budget deficit now. Much of that goes against Osama bin Laden.

MR. RUSSERT: Do you see him as a very formidable enemy?

MR. SCHEUER: Tremendously formidable enemy, sir, an admirable man. If he was on our side, he would be dining at the White House. He would be a freedom fighter, a resistance fighter. It's--and again, that's not to praise him, but it is to say that until we take the measure of the man and the power of his words, we're very much going to be on the short end of the stick.

If this isn't bad enough, earlier in the show he claims the US should appease Bin Laden by weakening our support of Israel. He then admits that doing so wouldn't change Bin Laden's agenda, however. Let's get behind the idea of removing delusional appeasers like Scheuer from the CIA.