Charlie Rose

pszmania  01/15/2010 03:26 AM Report

Chilling. These three reporters sound fearful and shaken by the task they see ahead of us. The mideast situation seems to be a trap into which we are more deeply drawn and entangled. We need smart, principled, dedicated leaders to see us through. Leadership needs to make the people aware of the danger and enlist their support for the political battles and decisions that will be necessary ahead. I fear that the terrific battles in congress plus among irresponsible populist movements against the administration put the US in grave danger. Let's hope Pres. Obama can make the case to the people to see this through. There is so much to do: education reform, viable public health care, financial reform, the mideast situation. Dreadful demands and decisions ahead.

This discussion was a great conversation.

REMant  01/12/2010 12:54 PM Report

I'd have to agree with Baer, altho I think a lot of ppl don't believe the Brits do intelligence any better. The thing about double agents is that the other side always has the stronger hand, because they have control over their families, etc. The best you can hope for from this kind of activity is a balance of power anyway, as it is really a kind of trench warfare. The covert war in the Mideast seems to be very aggressive across-the-board, despite lip service to classical counterinsurgency, and probably not helpful either, altho I doubt counterinsurgency would do any better. The spooks in Vietnam, led by ppl like Holbrooke, were more counterproductive than counterinsurgent, and it sounds like history is repeating itself in this, too. But you would have thought that in eight years the DoD and CIA could have trained at least a few ppl in the local languages.