Intel director: U.S. now safer from al-Qaida

[Squeezer]

I like to believe this much is true.  If nothing else, one can present as evidence the fact that there hasn't been another 9/11 since, well, 9/11.

Besides, in 8 years of fighting, we BETTER have learned something about our enemy.  I know the military is doing a lot in adapting its doctrine to fight al-Qaida, I can only assume that after all this time the intelligence community has adapted in the same way.

WASHINGTON — The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks would not have happened had U.S. intelligence agencies been organized then the way they are now, the top U.S. intelligence official said Tuesday.

“Had we been in business back then we would have stopped it,” National Intelligence Director Dennis Blair said at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco.

He said the government’s 16 intelligence agencies are foiling planned terror attacks now with less information than they had at their disposal before 9/11. The difference is the offices now cooperate and share information more readily, he said.

As director, Blair is in charge of directing and coordinating those efforts. His office was created by Congress in 2004 on the recommendation of the 9/11 Commission.

Blair told reporters earlier Tuesday that the United States is safer from al-Qaida and is able to launch more aggressive attacks against the terrorist organization because it has developed a more sophisticated understanding of the group.

“What has really made all the nations safer has been the accumulation of knowledge about al-Qaida and its affiliate groups which enables us to ... stop things before they happen,” he said. “We can be more aggressive because we are gaining more and more knowledge.”

Link: http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2009/09/ap_intelligence_terrorism_091609/

[JohnBrowdie]

this is just a confused bunch of people.  an obama administration official also said this just last month.  I have no idea what it means, but he seems to be saying that we are killing more terrorists because we are nicer people now. :

I can only assume that jim jones is going to get thrown under the bus in the next few days.  it's a relatively simply song that they are singing; "everything that came before us, BAD.  Here to save the world, US".

ABC News Exclusive: National Security Adviser Says President Obama Is Having Greater Success Taking Terrorists Out of Commission Than Bush Did

Responding to criticism from former Vice President Cheney that President Obama is making the nation more vulnerable to terrorism, the president’s National Security Adviser, Gen. Jim Jones (Ret.), told ABC News in an exclusive interview that actually the reverse is true: President Obama’s greater success with international relations has meant more terrorists put out of commission.

“This type of radical fundamentalism or terrorism is a threat not only to the United States but to the global community,” Jones said. “The world is coming together on this matter now that President Obama has taken the leadership on it and is approaching it in a slightly different way – actually a radically different way – to discuss things with other rulers to enhance the working relationships with law enforcement agencies – both national and international."

Jones said that “we are seeing results that indicate more captures, more deaths of radical leaders and a kind of a global coming-together by the fact that this is a threat to not only the United States but to the world at-large and the world is moving toward doing something about it.”

The former Marine General didn't provide any specific numbers to back up his claim, but he said “there is an increasing trend and I think we seen that in different parts of the world over the last few months for sure.” He added that he was not “making a tally sheet saying we are killing more people, capturing more people than they did -- that is not the issue.”

But the numbers are going up, he said.  “The numbers of high value targets that we are successfully reaching out to or identifying through good intelligence” from both the CIA and intelligence agencies from US allies has made the difference, he said. “We have better human intelligence; we know where the terrorists are moving. Because of the dialogue and the tone of the dialogue between us and our friends and allies...the trend line against terrorism is positive, and that’s what we want. If we have a positive trend line we have a safer country.”

Link