2006-09-23

Iraq Worsens Terrorism Threat - CIA

Go on, raise your hands and cop to it if the following comes as a surprise:
Spy Agencies Say Iraq War Worsens Terrorism Threat
A stark assessment of terrorism trends by American intelligence agencies has found that the American invasion and occupation of Iraq has helped spawn a new generation of Islamic radicalism and that the overall terrorist threat has grown since the Sept. 11 attacks.

The classified National Intelligence Estimate attributes a more direct role to the Iraq war in fueling radicalism than that presented either in recent White House documents or in a report released Wednesday by the House Intelligence Committee, according to several officials in Washington involved in preparing the assessment or who have read the final document.

The intelligence estimate, completed in April, is the first formal appraisal of global terrorism by United States intelligence agencies since the Iraq war began, and represents a consensus view of the 16 disparate spy services inside government. Titled "Trends in Global Terrorism: Implications for the United States,'' it asserts that Islamic radicalism, rather than being in retreat, has metastasized and spread across the globe.

An opening section of the report, "Indicators of the Spread of the Global Jihadist Movement," cites the Iraq war as a reason for the diffusion of jihad ideology.

This was self-evident truth before the contents of this NIE was leaked, and indeed even before the invasion itself. In any other than the fairy-tale scenario, how could invading a country without reason and killing tens of thousands of innocent mothers, fathers, and children in the process make us any safer?

They go on:
The report "says that the Iraq war has made the overall terrorism problem worse," said one American intelligence official.

More than a dozen United States government officials and outside experts were interviewed for this article, and all spoke only on condition of anonymity because they were discussing a classified intelligence document. The officials included employees of several government agencies, and both supporters and critics of the Bush administration. All of those interviewed had either seen the final version of the document or participated in the creation of earlier drafts. These officials discussed some of the document's general conclusions but not details, which remain highly classified.
"The Iraq war has made the overall terrorism problem worse." You can't get a more blunt statement than that.

This is our message for '06. George Bush's War has cost us 2700 American's lives, 20,000 Americans seriously wounded, $400 billion dollars, and now we know that it has made America less safe - putting your family at risk needlessly. The Rubber Stamp Republican Congress will never give President Bush serious oversight, so if you want more of this craziness, vote Republican. If you want a new direction for America, vote Democratic.

No comments: