I do believe in spooks! I do I do I do!

Well, anyone who doubted the Langley-vs-White House thesis should check out this interview immediately. It concerns a new book called Imperial Hubris, authored by Anonymous, a high-up anti-terrorism official at an undisclosed intelligence agency. Word has it that he really is a ranking spook -- Peter Bergen vouches for him, and that's good enough for me. Of course, when Mr. A's identity comes out (as it surely will any day now) the G.O.P will no doubt try to pretend that he is little better than a janitor at CIA.

According to the afore-cited interview, the intel community has come to view George Bush much the same way the Praetorians viewed Caligula. (And you know, or should know, how he ended up.) Bush, claims Mr. A., upended the war on Al Qaeda by diverting resources to an unnecessary adventure in Iraq. The administration blew it in Afghanistan by relying on local talent, as opposed to sending in a massive influx of American troops -- enough to win the peace as well as the war.

In contradistinction to those who say we already have Osama on ice, in storage until his October unveiling, Mr. A doubts that we've "laid a glove" on Bin Laden. The next strike, our author tells us, will be nuclear. (This coalesces with my own information, as relayed on my very first day of blogging.)

Although the con-intern (that delightful term for the right-wing propaganda directorate) has been trying to convince us that a new strike will serve as Osama's attempt to fix the election in Kerry's favor, Mr. A agrees with all sensible folk that any new terror attack will rally public opinion around Bush. In a sense, Bush and Bin Laden need each other politically:

Anonymous, who published an analysis of al-Qaida last year called Through Our Enemies' Eyes, thinks it quite possible that another devastating strike against the US could come during the election campaign, not with the intention of changing the administration, as was the case in the Madrid bombing, but of keeping the same one in place.

"I'm very sure they can't have a better administration for them than the one they have now," he said.

"One way to keep the Republicans in power is to mount an attack that would rally the country around the president."

As an aside, I should note that one Amazon reviewer of this author's previous book insists that Anonymous is "Israels' Benjamin Netanyahu and anyone who's read his other books will instantly recognize his tone and style."

Uhmmm....no. Nice try, though. Thanks for playing.