Sens. Feingold and Hagel: We need a better map of the world [View All]

[babylonsister]

We need a better map of the world
Posted on Mon, Jun. 16, 2008

By RUSS FEINGOLD and CHUCK HAGEL



Almost four years ago, the 9/11 Commission warned that when it comes to threats to our national security, we must focus on ``remote regions and failing states.''

On the map of the world, it's those hidden corners, about which we know so little, where some of the most dangerous threats against the United States may be brewing.

Unfortunately, our government is still not doing enough to gather intelligence and other information in those hidden places. There are far too many gaps on the map that need to be filled in; far too many places where what we don't know could hurt us.

Today, as we look at remote regions like Afghanistan and Pakistan, the terrorist threat has increased, yet we still know far too little.

In a blunt admission earlier this year, State Department counterterrorism chief Lt. Gen. Dell L. Dailey said that ``we don't have enough information about what's going on (in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border area). Not on al Qaeda. Not on foreign fighters. Not on the Taliban.''

more...

http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/other_views/story/571639.html