The problem with that, from the perspective of the instigators of the "War on Terror," is that you don't get to show off what a big dick you are when you pull o

The problem with that, from the perspective of the instigators of the "War on Terror," is that you don't get to show off what a big dick you are when you pull off an effective intelligence operation. Suskind's book The One-Percent Doctrine is very revealing in this regard. There were effective intelligence operations against Al Qaeda, but the fruits of them were repeatedly squandered for egotistical reasons. In one case, the CIA decapitated the main financial institution used by Al Qaeda and put their own guy in charge of it. This really shone a light on Al Qaeda endeavors for a time, but the US government kept giving the insights they gleaned from it to the Israelis (with no obvious quid pro quo) and the Israelis kept using those insights to solve their own internal problems until people twigged and started finding more secure ways to move their money around.