Essentially, the problem is: Through intent and capability, we have a Superbowl-quality NFL football team: 300-pound guys, run the 40 in 4.3, they bench-press 550 pounds. We've got a lot of them, and they're good. And the door opens in the gym, and they go outside ... and the problem is, it's water polo. And they're going against the guys — I mean little guys — 130, 140 pounds, wearing goofy hats, swim like fish, and they're throwing a ball, and that's how they keep score.
That's Cofer Black (my emphasis added, but from his vocal inflections), a former director of the CIA's Counterterrorist Center. He was speaking at a fascinating multi-day conference held at Tufts University back in March, called "The War On Terrorism: How Are We Doing?" (a title that created its own controversy within the conference, by the way).
If you're interested, podcasts of the main sessions are available for free via iTunes, on the University Channel Podcast page. It's a lot of listening — over ten hours — but I haven't gotten a clearer picture of the situation from any other source.
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