"The Arab spring has "delighted al-Qaida" and caused "an intelligence disaster" for the US and Britain, the former head of the CIA unit in charge of pursuing Osama bin Laden has warned.
Speaking at the Edinburgh international book festival, Michael Scheuer said: "The help we were getting from the Egyptian intelligence service, less so from the Tunisians but certainly from the Libyans and Lebanese, has dried up – either because of resentment at our governments stabbing their political leaders in the back, or because those who worked for the services have taken off in fear of being incarcerated or worse.
"The amount of work that has devolved on US and British services is enormous, and the result is blindness in our ability to watch what's going on among militants." The Arab spring, he said, was "an intelligence disaster for the US and for Britain, and other European services"." (thanks Fady)
Speaking at the Edinburgh international book festival, Michael Scheuer said: "The help we were getting from the Egyptian intelligence service, less so from the Tunisians but certainly from the Libyans and Lebanese, has dried up – either because of resentment at our governments stabbing their political leaders in the back, or because those who worked for the services have taken off in fear of being incarcerated or worse.
"The amount of work that has devolved on US and British services is enormous, and the result is blindness in our ability to watch what's going on among militants." The Arab spring, he said, was "an intelligence disaster for the US and for Britain, and other European services"." (thanks Fady)
