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The CIA agent who headed the hunt for Osama Bin Laden in the late 1990s has called for a national debate in the US on the cost of support for Israel.

Mike Scheuer quit the CIA last week, as did CIA deputy director John McLaughlin, fuelling rumours of serious internal rifts and low morale. In a BBC interview, Mr Scheuer said US policies risked "an extraordinarily long and bloody war" against al-Qaeda. He said he had resigned to speak out over US government security failings. Mr Scheuer, who has written two books anonymously, said he finally decided to leave the CIA after being told to stop publicising his worries about policy failings. He said the CIA's executive director had presented him with ways to stay on during a "very cordial, friendly" talk, but "all of them included not speaking out any more". Mr Scheuer, who began tracking Osama Bin Laden in the mid-1990s during the Clinton administration, said the White House had consistently failed to understand the threat from al-Qaeda or to take it seriously, and was still doing so. "I don't think they get it now," warning of al-Qaeda's "high degree of professionalism" in seeking out weapons of mass destruction and nuclear material. Al-Qaeda's antagonism to the US was based on "a specific set of US policies that have been in gear for 30 years and have not been reviewed, have not been debated, have not been questioned", he said. Instead, both contenders in the recent US presidential election had told voters that al-Qaeda was opposed to American values on women's rights or the sale of alcohol, warnings that sidestepped many major issues. Al-Qaeda's hostility stemmed from US government's "unqualified support for Israel" and desire "to manipulate the price of oil" in favour of Western consumers, he said. Al-Qaeda also views US-supported Arab regimes like Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Jordan as "Muslim tyrannies". [more]