Here yet again is more evidence of what we have pointed out many times over the years: that there is no reliable way to distinguish between Islamic “extremists” and Islamic “moderates.” These CIA officers, having been improperly trained in the nature of the enemy ideology and belief-system and filled with PC nonsense about the Religion of Peaceâ„¢, assumed that al-Balawi was a reliable “moderate” — until he murdered them.
“AP sources: Birthday cake awaited suicide bomber,” by Eileen Sullivan and Matt Apuzzo for Associated Press, March 25 (thanks to Darcy):
WASHINGTON (AP) — CIA officers in Afghanistan were so eager to meet the spy they believed would help them crack al-Qaida’s leadership they planned a birthday celebration for his visit in December, current and former U.S. officials said.
A birthday cake was waiting.
But before they could even begin to question their golden source, he detonated a powerful bomb, killing himself and seven CIA employees in one of the deadliest attacks in the agency’s history.
Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi, a 36-year-old doctor who had been recruited by Jordanian intelligence officials, was really a double agent.
The account of the planned birthday gathering is the latest evidence that CIA officials at the Afghan base trusted the Jordanian and wanted to build rapport with him. It was confirmed by current and former officials briefed on the case, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter.
The bombing not only weakened U.S. intelligence operations, it touched off a sometimes contentious debate within the close-knit intelligence community about whether such emotions led the CIA to be too lax with its security….
That’s not the problem. The problem is that they have completely misconceived the nature of the threat. Unless and until that changes, and it isn’t going to anytime in the foreseeable future, there will be many more incidents like this one.