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Peter Bergen - CNN said:...
Certainly, the Hamas attacks in Israel were a surprise, just as 9/11 was, but it is premature to label it an intelligence failure. We don’t know yet what Israel’s intelligence agencies such as Shin Bet were saying about Hamas to Israeli policymakers, just as Americans had no idea what the CIA was saying to the Bush administration about al Qaeda’s intentions until at least a year after the 9/11 attacks had happened.
Blaming a lack of intelligence for policy failures is an easy dodge for government officials because, typically, the spy agencies can’t publicly defend themselves on the facts, which are often classified, and, in any event, they work for the policymakers.
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In her 1962 study, “Pearl Harbor: Warning and Decision,” Roberta Wohlstetter showed how when it came to the Japanese surprise attack on the US naval base on December 7, 1941, separating the “signals” from the “noise” was a lot easier after the fact, writing that, “After the event, of course, a signal is always crystal clear; we can now see what disaster it was signaling since the disaster has now occurred. But before the event, it is obscure and pregnant with conflicting meanings. It comes to the observer embedded in an atmosphere of ‘noise’, i.e., in all sorts of information that is useless and irrelevant for predicting the disaster.”
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The mistake the Israelis made 50 years ago, and the Bush administration made before 9/11, despite intelligence warnings, was to underestimate the capabilities of their nations’ enemies. We don’t know yet what the Netanyahu government was told, if anything, about a possible attack from Gaza, but given the large-scale nature of the attacks, it seems conceivable that there were some indications that an attack was coming.
Israelis will likely only find out if there is a real demand for timely accountability and if the Netanyahu government agrees to provide it.
For now, understandably, the Israelis are focused on the ongoing conflict. “We were surprised this morning,” Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, the international spokesperson for the Israeli Defense Forces, told CNN Saturday. “About failures, I prefer not to talk at this point right now. We’re in war. We’re fighting. I’m sure this will be a big question once this event is over.”
“I assume the intelligence question will be talked about down the road and we’ll learn what happened there.”
In so many “surprise” attacks, from Pearl Harbor to the Yom Kippur War to 9/11, it turns out that relevant intelligence generated by spy agencies was disseminated to policymakers, but it wasn’t heeded as it didn’t fit with the assumptions they had about the actual nature and scale of the threat.
IDF masquerading as Hamas... hmmm
Exclusive: US to send 2nd aircraft carrier to eastern Mediterranean
The U.S. is sending a second aircraft carrier to the eastern Mediterranean to deter Iran and Lebanese Hezbollah from entering the Israel-Hamas conflict.abcnews.go.com
No "might" about it. The ONLY reason "the "World" even started giving any attention to that part of the World, at least beyond that of a carnival side show, is because of the oil found there.If the world didn't need their cheap oil, they might have done so already.
Sounds like Nazi propaganda. You can't condone what Hamas did but there have to be a lot of innocent people in Gaza.
Hamas hides among innocent people to cause more civilian casualties. And they preach a better life lies ahead after death.
He left on the trip hoping to meet all the key players in the region, but the Arab leaders have rebuffed him so it looks like he is only going to meet with Bibi.Biden is in Israel. What for, will he accomplish anything?
Only if one thinks that making it worse could be considered as accomplishing something.Biden is in Israel. What for, will he accomplish anything?
Protesters inside capital calling for cease fire in middle east. Arrest being made.
Skimming news headlines this morning and I see that:
- Israel is evacuating folks near Gaza and half the country's hotels are filled with evacuees/refugees.
- Israel is accusing Iran of ordering Hezbollah to attack their northern border
- China is weighing in publicly with statements critical of Israel's response
- China is telling their citizens to evacuate Israel
It looks like things are going to escalate this week.
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