or Powell's or me• • •
"Mike and Jon, Jon and Mike—I've known them both for years, and, clearly, one of them is very funny. As for the other: truly one of the great hangers-on of our time."—Steve Bodow, head writer, The Daily Show
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"Who can really judge what's funny? If humor is a subjective medium, then can there be something that is really and truly hilarious? Me. This book."—Daniel Handler, author, Adverbs, and personal representative of Lemony Snicket
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"The good news: I thought Our Kampf was consistently hilarious. The bad news: I’m the guy who wrote Monkeybone."—Sam Hamm, screenwriter, Batman, Batman Returns, and Homecoming
March 30, 2011
Everything Old Is New Again
By: John Caruso
American intelligence agents have admitted they helped to train the Kosovo Liberation Army before NATO's bombing of Yugoslavia. The disclosure angered some European diplomats, who said this had undermined moves for a political solution to the conflict between Serbs and Albanians. Central Intelligence Agency officers were ceasefire monitors in Kosovo in 1998 and 1999, developing ties with the KLA and giving American military training manuals and field advice on fighting the Yugoslav army and Serbian police.
When the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), which co-ordinated the monitoring, left Kosovo a week before airstrikes began a year ago, many of its satellite telephones and global positioning systems were secretly handed to the KLA, ensuring that guerrilla commanders could stay in touch with NATO and Washington. Several KLA leaders had the mobile phone number of General Wesley Clark, the NATO commander.
Barack Obama signed a secret order authorising covert US government support for rebel forces seeking to oust Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, according to government officials.
Mr Obama reportedly signed the order, known as a presidential "finding", within the last two or three weeks, four US government sources told Reuters. [...]
The New York Times reported that the CIA has had clandestine operatives who have been gathering intelligence for air strikes and making contact with the rebels for several weeks.
As far as we know the Libyan resistance isn't basically an organized crime outfit led by a heroin dealer and human organ trafficker, though, so there are at least a few differences.
(That "two or three weeks" is very interesting, given that Security Council resolution 1973 was only passed 13 days ago.)
— John Caruso
Posted at March 30, 2011 08:15 PMAdam Curtis traces the history of "humanitarian intervention". Includes Bernard Kouchner, Bernard Henri Levy, Gaddafi, Tony Bliar, Samantha Power.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/adamcurtis/2011/03/goodies_and_baddies.html
Posted by: mistah charley, ph.d. at March 31, 2011 12:29 PMWho sez lightning don't strike twice. Ya know, in that proweling, smuggeling, sneak-thief way, Obama is looking FAIRLY Presidential, these dayz. Maybe there's a way to spam Sun Tzu's book to ALL the Libyans, THAT would do them more good than what the CIA IS going to do for them.
Posted by: Mike Meyer at March 31, 2011 01:55 PMRead the Thaci article. Hey, can WE turn over a rock and find a leach, or what???!!!
Posted by: Mike Meyer at March 31, 2011 02:05 PMYeah the whole issue of the so-called rebel Libyans has been murky (to me at least) but the usual rule of thumb wins out again: if the US backs it then it's evil.
Posted by: DavidByron at March 31, 2011 02:18 PMA fine post by JC!
Posted by: N E at March 31, 2011 08:37 PMThank Bill Clinton for saving the lives of the Bosnians....they were being slaughtered like chickens by the Serbs, and what did Europe and Nato do wrung their hands and complained when Bill Clinton had the Navy fly some missions to tell the Serbs that if the UN and NATO were powerless to stop them then SOMEBODY would.
Remember Srebrenezia, and the cowardly walk away by UN forces, remember the Serbs pulling a Bosnian official from a Canadian UN armored car and shooting him dead in front of the UN troops?
I am very very thankful that the US sent in CIA assets to help the Bosnians aren't you???
And Yes it bothers me that we get no credit either from the rest of the Muslim world and that the oh so sophisticated Europeans who called us cowboys...
Damn Skippy
Man, that comment sure takes me back to the old days.
I am very very thankful that the US sent in CIA assets to help the Bosnians...
So thankful that you didn't notice I was talking about the US planting CIA agents in Kosovo, not Bosnia.
