CIA operatives bungle as bad as Austin Powers

[cynatnite]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - CIA agents charged with kidnapping a Muslim cleric in Milan appear to have bungled their way into an international incident by ignoring the most basic rules of the spy trade, experts say.

Far from the suave discretion of James Bond, experts say the operatives who snatched radical Muslim cleric Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr on Feb. 17, 2003, sound more like the bumbling secret agent Austin Powers of movie fame.

"Instead of super-sleuths, they were like elephants stampeding through Milan. They left huge footprints," said former CIA clandestine officer Melissa Boyle Mahle.

Media reports say the agents placed phone calls to CIA headquarters on unsecured lines, ran up $145,000 in bills at luxury hotels and operated far enough in the open for Italian authorities to learn their operational identities.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050629/ts_nm/security_italy_cia_dc

[DinahMoeHum]

1. "like elephants stampeding" . . . Exactly the approach Bush has

used in his GWOT. What a douchebag.

These people couldn't kick a duck in the ass unless they stood on a brick, and even then, they'd miss the mark more than half the time.


:rofl:

[lvx35]

2. It might not BE the CIA

There's speculation in some circles that this group was not the CIA at all, but a new pentagon intelligence group under Rumsfeld, or similar such thing. The CIA tends to be somewhat separate from the pentagon, yet this group made numerous calls to nearby military bases, and the operation was so loud that it was suveilled by Italian POLICE, not even italian intelligence...One would imaging the CIA would keep a lower profile after 50 years of experience working in Europe.

[LightningFlash]

3. It's whatever the hell T-Force 521 is called....

These guys a bunch of yuppies, DEFINITELY a Rumsfailed operation.

Can read about the whole history here:

http://waynemadsenreport.com

What the......

[dogday]

4. Yes That Is Bush's CIA- On His Watch

everything about this administration reeks of incompetence and illegal acts...

[SoCalDem]

5. Austin Powers and Maxwell Smart are Patron Saints

to our "modern" CIA:P

[cynatnite]

6. Can't improve intelligence if they don't have any

That's what this tells me. Whether it's Rumsfeld's follies or bush's, the best intelligence they can come up with is playing dot-to-dot on a chalkboard.