A few years ago, Kevin McMurray of Men’s Journal interviewed Cofer Black, the former head of the CIA’s Counter-Terrorist Center, about the hunt for Bin Laden after 9/11:
But didn’t you tell your lead operative in Afghanistan to bring you the head of Osama Bin Laden boxed in ice so you could show it to President Bush?
Let me characterize it in a different way. This is not about some kind of grisly decapitation exercise. What it is about is on a Third World battlefield, in the fog of war, being able to prove your actions. With rounds whizzing by your head, are you going to take the time to get out a fingerprint kit, maybe draw some blood for a DNA match, perhaps take a dental impression? If it were me, I’d want something fast.
Will we ever catch Bin Laden?
There is a profound desire by all senior government leaders to catch this guy. It’s a high priority. So yeah, he will be caught. Will his capture have a detrimental effect on Al Qaeda? Yes. Will it be a catastrophic effect? No. Someone will rise to take his place, and we will have to deal with it.
I guess he didn’t plan on SEAL Team Six bringing along their CSI-style biometric equipment.
Anyway, I enjoyed this bit about Russia’s reaction to our decision to enter Afghanistan:
When you briefed the Russians on our plans to attack Afghanistan they reportedly said, “You’re really going to get the hell kicked out of you,” and you replied, “We’re going to kill them — we’re going to put their heads on sticks.” True?
True, and you know what, the Russians loved it! After the meeting was over, two senior Russian officials, whom I will not name, said to me, “Mr. Black, finally America is acting like a superpower!” They’d been to the rodeo and they lost. They had a hell of a fight in Afghanistan. It was a great expression of solidarity in our moment of need. We needed their support and their cooperation, and we got it. They too were the enemies of Al Qaeda and the Taliban; they just had to be assured that we had no ulterior motivations.