Mercy! Mercy! That Dang Nabed PERCY!

Winning the Battle and Losing the War

Winning the battle and losing the War

As I read Anthony Shaffer’s book Operation Dark Heart I’m reminded of Macbeth’s famous soliloquy. Allow me to paraphrase it.

Espionage is a world of walking shadows, playing to an empty theater, who strut and fret their hour upon the stage and then are heard no more. It’s a tale told by idiots, searching blindly for truth, trying to introduce revelation to the cold shoulder of reality.

It all goes back to Hesiod who once said words to the effect, there are three types of minds. In the top tier are those who can conjure excellence from the world around them. (A rare quality). In tier 2 are those who can recognize it when they see it. (More common but not overly abundant.) In tier 3 are the “Monkey See, Monkey Dos.” Bureaucracies are largely run by tier 3 intellects, who love the power but lack the ability to use it effectively.

I know, I know, reading Shaffer’s book is hardly a fair and balanced assessment. The reader sees a world through the lens of someone with a slanted and embittered point of view. Yet much of what he says resonates and I can see how his attitude towards many of his superiors got him in trouble. He got labeled a rogue and his career ended abruptly. If you look at why his security clearance was revoked it's easy to see the petty politics and how young talent 'oft gets eaten by jealous, self-serving bureaucrats.

In a nutshell he gave unsolicited testimony to The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States. In the testimony he revealed that a project he was working on, Able Danger, had identified Mohamed Atta prior to 911. This outraged his bosses at the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) who used their IG to put his career under a magnifying glass, gather some trivial "Shortcomings" and use it to get Shaffer fired.

So you might ask, who was LTC Anthony Shaffer? I recommend you read his book. For all the man’s warts he got things done and was able to take intelligence from NSA, CIA, DIA and tactical intelligence sources and provide timely and accurate information to combat forces in Afghanistan. This enabled field commanders to beat back the Taliban by focusing limited combat power at decisive points on the battlefield. His was a unique talent with an ability that those who came before him and followed were unable to match. His methods, attitude, and unwillingness to suffer fools, led to tactical success, but so antagonized his superiors that they marginalized his accomplishments, and disposed of him in a characteristic and shadowy manner.