Scheuer and KSM

James Lewis at the American Thinker has a searing expose on Michael Scheuer's recent piece on KSM. In essence Scheuer ascribed the same mystical qualities to KSM he has to bin Laden and other jihadists, almost to the level of making the reader think he'd spent a little too much time down in the bowels of Langley (that beard did get rather long). But Lewis might be pushing back a little too hard.

Scheuer is indeed a liberal, perhaps rooted more in a theological liberalism than that of other Bush-bashers. He has openly criticized Bill Clinton for his failures to capture/kill Public Enemy Number One and has been overly critical of the many times the CIA was told to stand down. His mission seems more about educating the public about the fundamental differences between legacy terrorists and al Qaeda.

Lewis should have touched on Scheuer's real first book, which came out after Imperial Hubris but was written largely before 9/11. In it he admits Saddam was a threat and probably had WMDs. Not only that, but he opined that Osama and Saddam were probably working together through charismatic Sudanese leader Hassan al-Turabi, an allegation shared by ohers at the time. Scheuer then revised the book to include a rather amazing about face after it became evident Saddam was WMD-less.

While overall a bit harsh Lewis was dead-on in comparing him to Plame, since it's clear there were ideological divisions within CIA during the 90s and leading up to 9/11, which has produced a plethora of butt-covering ever since.

MORE 3/27/07

Laurie's view of the GTMO guys. Using the latest trendy phrase, here's the money quote:

What were al Qaeda members doing in Syria?