Gold9472
09-27-2006, 09:00 AM
Bush forced to publish damning spy report
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/09/27/ureport.xml
(Filed: 27/09/2006)
The Iraq war is a "cause celebre" that fans Islamic resentment of the US, according to a top-level American intelligence report released by George W Bush.
The American president decided to declassify the document - which contradicts his view of the progress of the war on terror - after parts of it were leaked to press earlier this week.
The intelligence assessment, a collation of work from America's 16 spy agencies, concludes that the threat from Islamic terrorism has increased since the invasion of Iraq in March 2003.
Despite serious damage to the leadership of al-Qa'eda, Islamic militants are now more numerous and have a greater geographic reach, the report says.
It reads: "If this trend continues, threats to US interests at home and abroad will become more diverse, leading to increasing attacks worldwide.
"The confluence of shared purpose and dispersed actors will make it harder to find and undermine jihadist groups."
The intelligence assessment, completed in April, couches its few positive notes in very conditional terms. It does, however, argue that more responsive political systems in Muslim nations could erode support for Islamic militants, and that most Muslims would oppose strict religious governments taking control of their own countries.
At a press conference Mr Bush claimed that those who interpreted the report as a damning critique of the US-led war in Iraq were naive.
"To suggest that if we weren't in Iraq we would see a rosier scenario, with fewer extremists joining the radical movement, requires us to ignore 20 years of experience," he said.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/09/27/ureport.xml
(Filed: 27/09/2006)
The Iraq war is a "cause celebre" that fans Islamic resentment of the US, according to a top-level American intelligence report released by George W Bush.
The American president decided to declassify the document - which contradicts his view of the progress of the war on terror - after parts of it were leaked to press earlier this week.
The intelligence assessment, a collation of work from America's 16 spy agencies, concludes that the threat from Islamic terrorism has increased since the invasion of Iraq in March 2003.
Despite serious damage to the leadership of al-Qa'eda, Islamic militants are now more numerous and have a greater geographic reach, the report says.
It reads: "If this trend continues, threats to US interests at home and abroad will become more diverse, leading to increasing attacks worldwide.
"The confluence of shared purpose and dispersed actors will make it harder to find and undermine jihadist groups."
The intelligence assessment, completed in April, couches its few positive notes in very conditional terms. It does, however, argue that more responsive political systems in Muslim nations could erode support for Islamic militants, and that most Muslims would oppose strict religious governments taking control of their own countries.
At a press conference Mr Bush claimed that those who interpreted the report as a damning critique of the US-led war in Iraq were naive.
"To suggest that if we weren't in Iraq we would see a rosier scenario, with fewer extremists joining the radical movement, requires us to ignore 20 years of experience," he said.