David Ignatius, Svengali

David Ignatius must have some kind of magical powers of mesmerism since he managed to provoke a remarkable quantity of serious commentary on Tapped about a column that proposes that the CIA mount a covert program to "install windmills and solar panels to generate electricity" in Waziristan.

Surely that doesn't pass the laugh test.

As long as we're allowed to play make-believe, why don't we just have Treadstone take care of things? It's completely preposterous. If you want to bribe people, just give them money. The desire to transform a simple exchange of money for favors into an eco-friendly global development scheme is, I think, a tip-off we're not meant to take this too seriously. Meanwhile, Brian Ulrich notes that the alarming report Ignatius uses to motivate Operation Windmill is actually out of date. Oh, well.

Comments

Damn. I thought you were suggesting we use Coldstone, which actually might have worked.

Posted by SomeCallMeTim | July 31, 2007 5:53 PM

Naturally I can't be arsed to read any of the serious commentary, but did anyone over there recast this as Operation Don Quixote?

Posted by Edward Woodward | July 31, 2007 5:56 PM

Actually money isn't all that useful in the wilds of Northwest Pakistan. You need things money can buy, not money.

Specifically, you need roads and textile mills, which you can then turn into jobs. Of course, building the roads means giving out jobs too, so this sort of infrastructure development is win win for everyone.

Posted by Nicholas Beaudrot | July 31, 2007 7:16 PM

Aw, comeon, Nicholas. Roads mean IEDs, which fragment and makes holes in things (people, vehicles, roads, insurgent strategies).

But I'm all up for Treadstone. Matt Damon, er, Jason Bourne, will do them in, for sure. Hey, guys jump out of windows to do suicide for him. And he's an awesome driver (even against the traffic) - good enough the dodge the IEDs.

He could even do an Ultimatum We could eveb clone him for even more CIA effectiveness in Pakistan, with ISI 'helping' out.

But, back to the money thing. Didn't we give money to the guys in Afghanistan for them to rat on other guys? And didn't those guys ratted on clog up Gitmo with their stubborn innocence that required waterboarding to bring to the surface?

Posted by JimPortlandOR | July 31, 2007 8:28 PM

What happened to my comment?

Posted by Adrian | August 1, 2007 9:47 AM

"But, back to the money thing. Didn't we give money to the guys in Afghanistan for them to rat on other guys? And didn't those guys ratted on clog up Gitmo with their stubborn innocence that required waterboarding to bring to the surface?"

True, but some Afghans did help topple the Taliban, who, you'll remember, refused to turn over Osama. "He's our guest! What proof you have?!?!?"

Ummm, how bout he's boasting about it?

Thing is, the Taliban were a creature of Pakistan's intelligence agency, the ISI. The ISI is part of the problem.

Ignatious is way wrong about Kennedy in Latin American. Nothing to emulate there. But he ends with a good point:

"The biggest danger in waiting is that if retaliation proves necessary later, it could be ill-planned and heavy-handed -- precisely what got us in trouble in Iraq."

Doesn't matter who's in office, retaliation will be heavy-handed. We'll create lots of new terrorists.

Posted by Peter K. | August 1, 2007 12:25 PM

There is a little conundrum here. Electricity, modern education, better transportation, more employment options etc. can decrease the grip of armed goons on local societies, but

1. It is not certain. They should have many other beneficial efects, so it is worthwhile anyway.

2. The effect is slow, while armed goons are not all that stupid, so if the development is secretly funded as to decrease their power, they will sabotage it. They may sabotage it anyway, It is extremally important not to connect the development with the policy goals of a foreign power.

I would hire thousands (in the scale of Afghanistan, hundreds of thousands) of able bodied men for road construction and similar tasks (small scale irrigation systems?), using rather low-tech methods. Picks, shovels and wheelbarrows are welcome. Then introduce electricity and a wider web of services that would connect the tribes to the central government in a constructive way.

But keep CIA away from such project, because it would be a kiss of death.

Posted by piotr | August 1, 2007 12:28 PM