Good Day for Terrorists

Imagine a terrorist cell in a dark basement. They are putting together bomb vests, meant for suicide bombers that other cells are busy recruiting from the poorest segments of the local population. It's a simple plan of attack: find people with nothing to live for and convince them that blowing themselves up in the middle of lunch hour at a local cafe will make them a hero.

This terrorist plan works. It kills innocents and creates a tragic story that generates a lot of press coverage. The cost of the strategy is low, as the suicide bombers are as cheap to obtain as the bomb vests they wear. The biggest problem for terrorists is how to get into areas that Americans frequent, because after all, killing Americans is the fastest way to the jihad wall of fame.

Today these terrorists can celebrate a good day. Not only is the U.S. Attorney General opening investigations into CIA interrogations, but layers of bureaucracy are being added to the law enforcement process to avoid future problem of a similar nature. Instead of protecting Americans from terrorists, the CIA is now expending a lot of energy protecting it's own agents from federal prosecutors.

All of this adds up to less pressure, less resources, and less motivation to chase terrorists. And if we are foolish enough to drag a CIA agent out and publicly embarrass him or her for interrogating a terrorist harshly, you can guarantee that the story will be a top headline on Al Jazeera, prompting much celebration.

God help us. We've become more interested in chasing our own protectors than we are in chasing our enemies.