Intelligence Gains from Osama Bin Laden's Compound
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2011-05-09/intelligence-gains-osama-bin-ladens-compound
American intelligence analysts are just beginning to sift through the scores of data retrieved from Osama bin Laden’s compound. National Security Adviser Thomas Donilon called it the largest intelligence haul ever from a senior terrorist. When U.S. Navy Seals killed bin Laden last Sunday, they seized documents, videos, computers and handwritten notes. On Saturday, the Pentagon released videos of bin Laden that showed him watching himself on TV and rehearsing lines. A look at newly gathered intelligence and how it could make the U.S. safer.
Guests
Bruce Hoffman
director of the Center for Peace and Security Studies at Georgetown University; senior fellow at the U.S. Military Academy’s Combating Terrorism Center; author of “Inside Terrorism.”
David Ignatius
columnist, The Washington Post; contributes to “Post Partisan” blog on washingtonpost.com
Glenn Carle
career CIA clandestine services officer; deputy national intelligence officer for Transnational Threats; author of "The Interrogator"
Frank Cilluffo
director, Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington University.
Program Highlights
A "Treasure Trove" of Intelligence Information
Following the raid on Osama bin Laden's compound earlier this month that killed the al-Qaida leader, the Obama administration has said that the amount of intelligence information the U.S. was able to obtain amounts to a small library of potentially useful material.
Several clips from tapes that bin Laden made and that the White House has released are probably the only pieces of that information from the compound that the public will see. In the tapes, bin Laden is watching coverage of himself on television and seems to be practicing statements for future recordings.
"What we can learn about bin Laden from this footage that we might not have known before?" Diane asked.
There was broad agreement that the tapes themselves did not reveal much new information about bin Laden, but Washington Post columnist David Ignatius said that some of the other information specialists gathered makes it clear that al-Qaida was still planning operations, with a possible focus on the tenth anniversary of 9/11.
Imminent Threats
The first thing that intelligence officials would have looked for within the material from bin Laden's compound was evidence of any imminent threats, said Frank Cilluffo of the Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington University.
Cilluffo added that he had a concern that the White House was releasing too much information about the circumstances surrounding bin Laden's killing. For instance, the Obama administration acknowledged that bin Laden had both cash and phone numbers on his person at the time of his death. "Any detail could compromise our capacities..." in regard to future intelligence-gathering, Cilluffo said. For example, other al-Qaida members may make it a practice not to carry that information with them after hearing about bin Laden, he said.
Questioning of Witnesses
There was some difference of opinion among the guests about what the U.S.'s intentions might have been as far as questioning the other people who were living with bin Laden at the compound.
Bruce Hoffman, director of the Center for Peace and Security Studies at Georgetown University, said he thinks that if one of the U.S. helicopters hadn't been disabled early in the mission, the U.S. would have tried to take the women and children away with them from the compound for questioning. But Ignatius disagreed, saying he would "be surprised" if that was the U.S.'s intent. Ignatius said such a move would only further inflame emotions in the Arab world.
But Ignatius also said that one of the main reasons the U.S. would want to interrogate bin Laden's associates at the compound would be to try to determine what kind of support the al-Qaida leader was receiving in Pakistan and who exactly was providing it - two areas that President Obama has said are still unknowns.
Comments
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Hi Diane,
One question that could be investigated is who owned Bin Laden's house before and after he occupied it? Who sold it to him? I am sure there are records of real estate transactions in Pakistan. Has anyone looked at that?
Thank you
Alex
Ann Arbor
I've heard the volume of materials gathered from the bin Laden compound described as the size of a small college library. Given that the SEALS were on the ground for only forty minutes, with locating and killing bin Laden, securing his body, while apparently meeting some resistance, etc., how did they have time to load up such a large amount of material, and how was it transported?
Where is Bert?
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/14/weekinreview/october-7-13-osama-bert-l...
Seems to me that these early leaks are probably not terribly important. It's been reported that *some* of the data were encrypted. Do our intelligence agencies have the ability quickly to decrypt 128-bit public key systems? Wouldn't it be reasonable to assume that it would take at least some time, and that the good stuff probably isn't coming out ever, but certainly not so soon?
Pete
Kearneysville, WV
Dianne,
I understand the worry people have about the information being released but does the panel think that if we are all thinking that a release of information is dangerous the intellignece community has already thought of this?
Thanks,
Joe Roberts
Orlando FL
One question....
How cooperative do you think his wife(s) and children will be? I would tend to believe they followed his "guidance" and would therefore not tend to say too much.
Thanks
Lynn
Ho hum.... bin Laden and 9/11.... Dead men tell no tales.... As if bin Laden was the master mind behind 9/11 as it took place. This government is disgusting with its lies and deceitfulness toward the public. Bin Laden's death amounts to little more than an assassination and with the Patriot Act coming up for maintenance this nation will surely need to "protect" itself from shadow terrorists in the near future!
One additional source for listeners is from the Power Hour on YouTube entitled "911InPlaneSite".....watch, listen, compare....
On May 4th, Elizabeth Palmer reported from Pakistan on the CBS Evening News. She said Pakistan authorities had said one more person had been taken from the compound along with Bin Ladens' body on the helicopter. I have not heard this reported any where else and although I am not inclined to believe anything said by Pakistan, I am curious if your panelists think this is possible and is being kept under wraps for obvious reasons.
Hello Diane.
We must consider that torture prolonged and delayed information being made available to us. If we would have used modern psychological solutions, like embedding a mole in the prisons to become friends with the prisoners and other methods that gain information from prisoners who believe they can trust us and who then share information honestly, we could have been much more effective and got the information much sooner than the ten years it took torturing it out of people.
How many future enemies did we create by torturing people? How quickly have we made moot the Trillions of dollars in aid that we supply other countries, how quickly have we changed our perception to the world by using ancient methods of information gathering.
We will never know how long we prolonged the war by using barbarian methods because we still have a brute force Vietnam mentality. The World was on our side after 9-11, are they now?
When asking whether information that led us to him was obtained using torture, it seems like we're really asking whether torture "works". I am sure torture will yield some useful information some of the time. But before asking whether it works, let us ask "Does it violate our principles, yes or no?".
Diane has a selective memory. Big surprise. Here is what then Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said iin 2006 about OBL's "irrelevance:"
"Even if Osama bin Laden is caught tomorrow, it is five years too late. He has done more damage the longer he has been out there. But, in fact, the damage that he has done . . . is done. And even to capture him now I don’t think makes us any safer."
This is what Pelosi said May 3, 2011;
"The death of Osama bin Laden marks the most significant development in our fight against al-Qaida. . . . I salute President Obama, his national security team, Director Panetta, our men and women in the intelligence community and military, and other nations who supported this effort for their leadership in achieving this major accomplishment. . . .
Translation:
When Bush was POTUS it didn't matter if we caught him or not....but now that Obama is POTUS it is a major accomplishment