Michael Scheuer is the former CIA analyst who headed the CIA's bin Laden desk.Commentary discusses that Scheuer is now mentioned favorably by bin Laden, along with Noam Chomsky.
Osama bin Laden’s latest video is very peculiar, and not only because he is sporting a fake beard.
One of the oddest moments comes when he recommends that Americans read the works of two authors, Noam Chomsky and Michael Scheuer. Scheuer, who ran the CIA’s al-Qaeda unit from 1996 to 1999, has been making a great name for himself as a counterterrorism expert since leaving the agency in 2004. Among other high-visibility perches, he serves as a “consultant” to both CBS and ABC News and is cited frequently by leading journalists.
I'm more than a little concerned that the man who headed the CIA's effort to find bin laden during the Clinton administration is now one of OBL's favorite authors. In addition, it is obvious from his comments and writings that he is virulently anti-Israel. Anti-Semitic? I'll leave that for others. But if he had to choose between OBL and Israel, Israel would get the short end of the stick.
So back to the question: why is an OBL sympathizer heading up the CIA's effort to counter bin Laden? That leads to a broader question: is the CIA on "our" side? Certainly the leaks from the CIA have been almost uniformly damaging to this administration's efforts in the war. The Scheuer issue raises the stakes.
The fact that can be asked is very troubling.
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