by Henry Oliner | Apr 16, 2011 | Foreign policy
Though the intelligence failures surrounding Iraq are now well known, recent history is abundant with examples of flawed intelligence that have affected key national security decisions and contingency planning. They include, for example: the poor quality of the...
by Henry Oliner | Mar 25, 2011 | Foreign policy
The Syrian dictatorship possessed in the extreme two qualities particularly dangerous in a military adversary- ruthlessness and patience. Like all dictatorships, the regime had the advantage of not needing to cater to its domestic opinion. It could do whatever it...
by Henry Oliner | Mar 23, 2011 | Foreign policy
Earlier in the war we had received several reports of supposed sightings of both Mullah Omar and bin Laden, which all proved to be false. At one point I watched a Predator video feed of a tall, lanky man wearing a turban and white robes and surrounded by what looked...
by Henry Oliner | Mar 14, 2011 | Politics
Powell had an engaging sense of humor and could poke fun at himself and some of the sterotypes of the State Department. On one occasion, Cheney, Rice and I were at the State Department for one of our regular lunches, which we took turns hosting. The rest of us...
by Henry Oliner | Mar 14, 2011 | Foreign policy, Military
When I learned, for example, that the Pentagon had been spending $225 million every year to maintain our forces in Iceland, I sent a memo to Powell recommending that we make a change. I pointed out that our aircraft originally had been stationed in Iceland to track...
