Not to excuse what happened at the Capitol on Jan. 6, but have you noticed there’s a lot more mainstream media attention on how to deal with right-wing domestic terrorists than there was paid all summer while cities were in flames and Antifa had the federal courthouse under siege for months in Portland?
By our count, and we may have missed some, this is the third piece from a former intelligence official saying we should use the lessons learned fighting al-Qaeda in Afghanistan to root out the kind of people who stormed the Capitol. Susan Gordon, the former principal deputy director of national intelligence, appeared on PBS NewsHour and suggested the U.S. should think about a “9/11 Commission” for domestic terrorism.
Over at the Washington Examiner, ex-CIA, ex-Army officer Kevin Carroll wrote that we defeated al-Qaeda and can do the same to the fascist thugs who attacked our democracy last month — but only if we take similar hard measures against the enemy within, such as banning militias.
Now we’re on to NPR interviewing Robert Grenier, the former director of the CIA’s counterterrorism operation, after reading his piece in the New York Times about using counterinsurgency tactics — similar in some ways to those used in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The former director of the CIA's counterterrorism operation argues that counterinsurgency tactics, like those used in Afghanistan and Iraq, are needed to fight the extremists who stormed the Capitol.https://t.co/r4PITA0rFm
— NPR (@NPR) February 3, 2021
Interviewer begins question, 'Without comparing American citizens to al Qaeda…' but that is what the whole conversation does. https://t.co/VL9HAHM7VM
— Byron York (@ByronYork) February 3, 2021
What could possibly go wrong..?
— Ron Cabeen (@CabeenRon) February 3, 2021
How quickly NPR returned to its previously scheduled propaganda programming. Soviet All-Union Radio is on the air.
— Venerable Æthelred of Virginia (@GeorgeP03657877) February 3, 2021
This man is truly dangerous. I think his experience has blinded him. I also think he has no true understanding of representative democracy and the history of unrest in the country.
— Gambare (@d3navy) February 3, 2021
What a fabulous job the CIA did at counter-insurgency. Twenty years later, same insurgents.
— Peter Clemenza (@PeterCl31933318) February 3, 2021
Any ideas on how to protect the country from Antifa and BLM? Or are we all just at their mercy?
— Okay. (@corrcomm) February 3, 2021
— Razor (@hale_razor) February 3, 2021
Well, one thing the CIA excels at is turning mild divisions into full blown failed states.
— Rick Ward (@rjward1775) February 3, 2021
Hammer argues that problem is nail.
— Ken Lowery (@kenlowery) February 3, 2021
Are these “extremists” still storming the Capitol? I thought they all went on home.
— Reine (@ReineDeTout) February 3, 2021
I’m sure there is no way this could possibly go wrong
— Ohio Man (@GSnyd3r) February 3, 2021
Looking forward to my wedding getting drone bombed!
— champagne anarchist (@bollywobbler) February 3, 2021
every hospital and school in the US right now pic.twitter.com/uW4xqx28P0
— 1 New Notification (@Lee_Morgan7) February 3, 2021
Because these tactics have worked so well in Afghanistan for, checks notes, nearly 20 years.
— . (@pointsixonefive) February 3, 2021
This is going to be a hard no from me NPR.
— Gravelle (@Gravelle0402) February 3, 2021
mark my words… Patriot Act 2.0
— Tommie Sunshine ✊️ (@tommiesunshine) February 4, 2021
Can't wait to spend all day getting into my city's green zone to buy bread
— Ramshackle Craftsmanship (@A_3ft_Giant) February 3, 2021
He does know that will radicalize more, right?
— David Schor (Biden=#BlueTrump) ? (@davidschor) February 3, 2021
Seems like a horrible idea?
— Noel (@NOEL730N) February 3, 2021
And as we all know, their tactics were super successful and Iraq and Afghanistan no longer have any problems with extremism or sectarian violence and everything's just peachy keen for them both.
— ecks (@ecks) February 3, 2021
This is dangerous rhetoric.
— Tom Karren (@tomkarren) February 3, 2021
Ahhh yes the effective strategies that have led to 20 year wars with no end in sight that serve as a money hole for the military complex. There’s no way this could end poorly
— Jake (@JakeMGendron) February 4, 2021
Ah. Yes. Those famously successful campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq.
— Jebadiah Death, Certified Reaper (@youdiedagain) February 3, 2021
Considering the CIA's counterinsurgency track record and habit of running secret torture camps, maybe someone else should lead this investigation
— Baudrillard (@GroovySciFi) February 3, 2021
So is the CIA going to be de jure allowed to operate on US soil now, instead of having to pretend they don’t already?
— Jonathan Oczkus (@Joczkus) February 4, 2021
— Rickman (@ExtremeRickman) February 3, 2021
Here wo go. They are going to try to pass a bunch of "we'll keep you safe" legislation that will end up taking our privacy and rights away. We JUST did this in 2001-2009, must we do it again?
— Should I Run IL (@ShouldIRun_IL) February 3, 2021
I doubt that it's going to be sold like that again. Based on the temperature in the room it's more likely to be sold on vengeance.
— Autism Respecter (@AfterDemotism) February 3, 2021
That's absolutely the most counterproductive approach conceivable.
— When the bees die, we die too. (@brucewilson) February 3, 2021
unless your goal is to grow the insurgency
— RealMoldyWarp (@MoldyWarp) February 3, 2021
…this is just Foucault's Boomerang, except they seem to think it is a good idea.
— Adam (@Xanadu6784) February 3, 2021
I can't think of any way this could go wrong.
— Nathan Lewis (@nlewi285) February 3, 2021
The scary part is that this is what former intelligence officials think; what about the ones still on the job?
The last we checked, police are using video evidence and cell phone data to track down and arrest anyone who was in the Capitol Jan. 6. Just prosecute them for that crime and be done with it.
Related:
Ex-CIA, Army officer says we can defeat the fascist thugs who stormed the Capitol by taking similar measures we took to defeat al-Qaeda https://t.co/SviVNnKytJ
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) February 2, 2021
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