-Caveat Lector- CIA warns US faces biggest threat since World War II http://www.dawn.com/2000/12/09/int1.htm LOS ANGELES, Dec 8: The 'wild card' of technology - from nuclear proliferation to the information revolution - has left US interests more susceptible to terrorist attack than at any time since the end of World War Two, CIA Director George Tenet said on Thursday. Tenet said America's technical superiority in intelligence gathering was under threat from such rapid advances, while the "evil mix of fanaticism and flexibility" behind the October attack on the USS Cole made the next strike "not a question of if, but of when and where." Tenet, addressing a Los Angeles luncheon in a rare public speech, declined to talk in detail about the Oct. 12 apparent suicide bombing of the Cole in Yemen. But he said the attack was a grim reminder of the "terrorist foe without heart or pity" that threatened US interests around the world on a daily basis. "We are in an environment where we are literally inundated with threats and warnings all the time," Tenet said in response to a question about the Cole. "Making sense of disparate threats is sometimes very difficult to do in the time available. We have deterred a great number of terrorist events. But you will not bat 100 (percent) with these people." US officials have said Saudi Arabian exile Osama bin Laden is considered a prime suspect in the planning of the Cole attack but they have not established a definitive link. Seventeen American sailors were killed when a small boat filled with explosives blew up alongside the USS Cole in the port of Aden in Yemen. Tenet said the destabilizing effects of ethnic conflicts, easy access to information such as satellite imagery, and the proliferation of nuclear weapon technology made for a world without front lines. "We in the intelligence community believe the chances for unpleasant - even deadly - surprise are greater now than at any time since the end of the Second World War," Tenet said. The CIA chief called rapid advances in technology the "wild card" in the volatile equation surrounding the military, commercial and diplomatic dominance of the United States since the end of the Cold War. "I will be blunt with you: the pace of technological change threatens to erode America's technical advantage in intelligence - an advantage that has long been a pillar of our national security," Tenet said. He said the CIA was pushing for investments in technology and in people to ensure that the United States does not fall "totally behind the curve." Despite issues ranging from drug trafficking and cyber warfare to humanitarian crises which he said had stretched the capabilities of US intelligence to their limit, Tenet said the CIA had a long list of accomplishments. - More than two dozen terrorists - more than half of them linked to Osama bin Laden - brought to justice around the world since July 1998. - Support of US government efforts to achieve peace in the Middle East. - Zero US casualties in daily American air patrols of the no-fly zone in Iraq in the past 10 years. <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
