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Al-Qaeda boosted by Iraq war, warns think-tank
channelnewsasia.com/ ^ | May 25, 04 | channelnewsasia.com/

Posted on 05/26/2004 12:43:21 AM PDT by churchillbuff

LONDON : The US-led war on Iraq, far from countering terrorism, has helped revitalise the Al-Qaeda terror network, the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) think-tank warned.

The London-based body said in its annual Strategic Survey 2003/2004 that the deadly train bombings in Madrid in March, the worst terror strike in Europe for more than a decade, showed that Osama Bin Laden's terror network "had fully reconstituted".

It also predicted the Islamic group would step up its anti-Western attacks, possibly even resorting to weapons of mass destruction and targeting Americans, Europeans and Israelis while continuing to support insurgents opposing the US-led occupation of Iraq.

The IISS pointed to devastating blasts in Morocco, Saudi Arabia and Turkey in 2003 and 2004 as further evidence that anti-US sentiment had soared since the Iraq war.

"In counter-terrorism terms, the intervention has arguably focused the energies and resources of al-Qaeda and its followers while diluting those of the global counter-terrorism coalition that appeared so formidable following the Afghanistan intervention in late 2001," the report said.

However, since the war it said that arms proliferation and state-sponsored terrorism has dwindled, with Libya giving up its unconventional weapons programs and Syria becoming "less provocative."

Stalinist North Korea's secret nuclear programme was somehow contained thanks to a negotiating process while Iran agreed to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency over its nuclear activities, the IISS said.

But another legacy of the war was what the IISS termed a highly questionable recourse to pre-emptive strikes as a means of counter-proliferation, as well as "the uses and abuses of intelligence as a basis for military action."

The IISS said the United States, which has dominated world affairs since the end of the Cold War, had failed to understand that Al-Qaeda's September 11, 2001 attacks were "a violent reaction to America's pre-eminence" and it urged the superpower to temper "the appearance of American unilateralism".

It warned that Washington would have a hard time restoring order in embattled Iraq and stressed that the conflict had brought a political split between the United States and its continental European allies, leaving Britain stuck in the middle.

The survey additionally forecast a possible attention shift away from terrorism, Middle Eastern problems and weapons proliferation should North Korea opt for a more aggressive stance, a humanitarian disaster hit Africa or undesirable regime-changes "produce abrupt and serious security challenges".

The United States will not manage to tackle all of the above single-handedly, warned the think-tank, raising a question mark over Europe's ability to break away from "strategic arthritis."


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Front Page News
KEYWORDS: alqaeda; antinukes; fraud; generalmcclellanbuff; iraq; mymomismurrymom; peaceactivists; peaceniks; terrorism; threats
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To: Susannah

Great cartoon...


121 posted on 05/26/2004 2:20:11 AM PDT by MEG33 (John Kerry's been AWOL for two decades on issues of National Security!)
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To: broadsword

I agree.


122 posted on 05/26/2004 2:20:40 AM PDT by DoughtyOne
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To: DB

"Defending against the madmen will only make the madmen mad."

Good. It's easier to spot and kill the raging mad ones.


123 posted on 05/26/2004 2:20:48 AM PDT by broadsword (Liberalism is the societal AIDS virus that helps our enemies to kill us.)
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To: broadsword

...with the sentiment.


124 posted on 05/26/2004 2:21:28 AM PDT by DoughtyOne
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To: dasboot

Well, that doesn't surprise me much. Remember, she couldn't even stand up to terrorism. That's a lot more black and white than criticism.


125 posted on 05/26/2004 2:23:22 AM PDT by DoughtyOne
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To: DB

I certainly agree. How do you get more mad than to take out as many as 50,000 innocent people? Thankfully they didn't pull that off.


126 posted on 05/26/2004 2:25:11 AM PDT by DoughtyOne
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To: DoughtyOne

Are you referring to the thwarted Jordan plot?


127 posted on 05/26/2004 2:26:20 AM PDT by dasboot
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To: dasboot

Actually I was refering to the idea that if the towers had gone down quicker, we stood to lose 50,000 souls. As bad as it was, we were indeed fortunate that it wasn't far worse.

I believe that 80,000 was the figure pegged for Jordan losses, if that had been successfully implemented.

These are certainly some very sick people.


128 posted on 05/26/2004 2:32:00 AM PDT by DoughtyOne
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To: DoughtyOne
Yeah, one would think that folks the ilk of Churchie would make the intellectual leap when they were presented with the patent evidence that the terrorists don't really have an agenda outside intoxicating thrill-murder....and that anyone's suffering will do it for 'em.

On the other hand, it's hard for good people to imagine such evil, as it's hard for them to imagine what compells a child-rapist.

Perhaps a mind immobilized by fear: no fight, no flight...only white noise between the ears.

129 posted on 05/26/2004 2:44:19 AM PDT by dasboot
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To: churchillbuff
The IISS said the United States, which has dominated world affairs since the end of the Cold War, had failed to understand that Al-Qaeda's September 11, 2001 attacks were "a violent reaction to America's pre-eminence" and it urged the superpower to temper "the appearance of American unilateralism".

Oh, that's a great strategy. Let them think they're winning, and then they'll leave us alone. That worked like a charm for Neville Chamberlain, didn't it?

130 posted on 05/26/2004 2:52:34 AM PDT by L.N. Smithee (Just because I don't think like you doesn't mean I don't think for myself)
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To: churchillbuff

"Oh, I will -- provided we haven't been blown up by a WMD by then"

WMD? What WMD? I was told there was no WMD after I was told there was.


131 posted on 05/26/2004 5:49:44 AM PDT by EQAndyBuzz (Only difference between the liberals and the Nazis is that the liberals love the Communists.)
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To: churchillbuff
What I would like to know is this: if terrorism is such a major threat to this country, why haven't any gun-control laws been repealed? Are we really supposed to trust the feds to keep us safe?

I think that in many ways we are less secure now.

132 posted on 05/26/2004 9:41:47 AM PDT by sheltonmac ("Duty is ours; consequences are God's." -Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson)
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To: churchillbuff

"The US-led war on Iraq, far from countering terrorism, has helped revitalise the Al-Qaeda terror network, the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) think-tank warned."

Wrongo. What J Efin war led up to 9/11? Take a seat.


133 posted on 05/26/2004 9:44:34 AM PDT by gathersnomoss
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To: churchillbuff

How are attacks in Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Morocco signs of anti-US sentiment? Sounds more like anti-Saudi, anti-Turkey, and anti-Morocco sentiment.

9-11, embassy bombings, USS Cole, and '93 WTC bombing showed anti-American sentiment, and that was before the war on terror began.


134 posted on 05/26/2004 9:48:59 AM PDT by ilgipper
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To: dasboot

I agree.


135 posted on 05/26/2004 10:02:40 AM PDT by DoughtyOne
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To: churchillbuff
And where IS Osama, by the way?

He's DEAD, Jim ...
.

136 posted on 05/26/2004 10:27:43 AM PDT by AFPhys ((.Praying for President Bush, our troops, their families, and all my American neighbors..))
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To: churchillbuff
If they don't pose a threat, why is Ashcroft having a news conference today to warn about big-time terrorism this summer?

Who EVER told you there is no threat?

The only people who ever acted like there was no terrorist threat were and still are the Demodogs of the '90s who blithely ignored terrorist attacks worldwide.

Meanwhile, in 2003, there were fewer terrorist attacks than had occurred in the previous 12 years, at least. Sounds like this administration is doing mighty fine to me.

You and I both KNOW there will be further attacks against this country, though. At least now we have some cognizance that there is a threat to us here in the US - which we didn't have before President Bush.
.

137 posted on 05/26/2004 10:32:35 AM PDT by AFPhys ((.Praying for President Bush, our troops, their families, and all my American neighbors..))
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To: jwpjr

Very good post#15.

I would modify only your time frame for checking back from one year to five years or more...
.


138 posted on 05/26/2004 10:35:17 AM PDT by AFPhys ((.Praying for President Bush, our troops, their families, and all my American neighbors..))
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To: churchillbuff

Since you are so hellbent on this administration failing to do anything to prevent a WMD attack, pray tell us, O Wise One, your proposed solution...

No pie in the sky, now.

It has to be able to get passed by both houses of Congress, too.


139 posted on 05/26/2004 10:37:24 AM PDT by AFPhys ((.Praying for President Bush, our troops, their families, and all my American neighbors..))
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To: jwpjr

Good points, but next time please insert a few carriage returns. Reading on the internet is not the same as reading a book.


140 posted on 05/26/2004 10:39:55 AM PDT by js1138 (In a minute there is time, for decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse. J Forbes Kerry)
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