Huh?
Flash Points: An inside look into Osama bin Laden documents
Christine Delargy, Jacqueline CorbaFlashpoints, 22 March 2012
CBS News senior national security analyst Juan Zarate sat down with CBS News national security correspondent Bob Orr on this week's episode of Flash Points to discuss his recent briefing on the documents taken from Osama bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
“What was clear from what I was briefed on throughout the documents was the fact that he is losing control of the movement,” said Zarate, who served as a top national security aide to President George W. Bush.
“He is still trying to drive the strategy but he's meeting with the realities of the environment, not only are they beleaguered and battered by counter terrorism pressure over the past few years, but they are not able to function in the way they once did,” Zarate said.
Zarate added that he received an intriguing look inside the strategic tension between Bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri, and gave an example of a conversation that may have taken place between the two, where Bin Laden argues, “no brother let's stay focused on what matters, let's cut down the tree at the trunk and the trunk is America, keep attacking America.”
Watch the rest of Zarate's analysis, including his take on Bin Laden's opinions of Yemen and Somalia, in the video above.
Follow Juan Zarate on Twitter for more national security updates and to suggest what you would like to see in the upcoming episodes of “Flash Points.”
Phi Beta Iota: This is insane. We've known that reporters have been lipstick on the media advertising pig for a very long time, but we are increasingly realizing they simply do not know anything — no history, no past reading, no continuity of cognizance. David Ignatius is another matter — he is a long-term “asset of convenience.” These puppies have no foundation for evaluating anything — they are being fed horse manure.
See Also:
Mini-Me: David Ignatius on the CIA’s “Captured” Abbottabad Files
Bin Laden Show: Entries 01-79 UPDATED 9 March 2012
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