Terror and Torture Tuesday

1st Question: How good is the CIA?
    From its founding in aftermath of WWII and the OSS/CIG to the expulsion of James Jesus Angleton as the head of Counter-Intelligence, its record is spotty if you are in a very, very generous mood. A new book discusses. (Via The Register) Also rec'd Tom Mangold's Cold Warrior.
2nd Question: Is there any information about torture online?
    Turns out that OmniBrain covers the release of an old torture manual online. That is if you missed Boing Boing highlighting it. Of course the question of culpability is always up in the air, but it appears that somebody thinks torturers are liable for the way they treat people.
3rd Question: How goes personal freedoms in all this?
    Well, just to make sure we're all suspected of something, along comes a judge in the UK with this little ditty. I'm sure it'll help catch terrorists... I keep wondering what the hell is wrong with the UK. Oops, there go those freedoms we loved.
    So from the other side of terrorism, what motivates people. Poverty has long been debunked, at least on a personal level: Osama bin Laden is rich; the 9/11 hijackers were educated professionals, and the pattern goes on and on. We'll it looks like politics over piety in this article.
    Now if you are thinking that there is a link between terrorism and Islam in its fringe reaches (I'm looking at you Sam Harris), you'll be interested in efforts being made to help people leave Islam. It appears to be a reaction to 9/11 and the subsequent killings and ... stuff.
Another Question: How goes the GWoT?
In the wake of the Petraeust testimony in front of the American congress, it turns out there are other ways of looking at casualty data. Here's a second one.

--  From: 	The Eternal Gaijin 	Lost Somewhere in Kobe, Japan 	"Words Cannot Describe What I Am About To Tell You."