Posted on 07/17/2007 7:49:03 PM PDT by indcons
The United States faces an increased threat of attack from al Qaeda, which will likely try to use battle-hardened associates in Iraq to strike inside the United States, an intelligence report warned on Tuesday.
Released as the White House confronts mounting pressure in Congress to withdraw U.S. forces from Iraq, the document marked the first time that the 16-agency U.S. intelligence community has warned publicly that the Iraq war poses a near-term threat to the United States.
Democrats seized on the findings to say the administration has mishandled national security and the Iraq war, while U.S. President George W. Bush said U.S. pressure on al Qaeda had kept it from getting even stronger.
The two-page unclassified report was part of a classified national intelligence estimate delivered to Bush and Congress. It said al Qaeda's affiliation with al Qaeda in Iraq is helping Osama bin Laden's militant network recruit operatives.
"We assess that al Qaeda will probably seek to leverage the contacts and capabilities of al Qaeda in Iraq, its most visible and capable affiliate," it stated.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
In other words, for al Qaeda and the U.S., Iraq is the most important theater in the War on Terror.
According to the FBI, Iraqis are being smuggled across the border. The story calls them refugees and many probably are. However it would be easy enough for a terrorist to mix in.
http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/07/fbi-iraqis-bein.html
Democrats: How will allowing "al Qaeda in Iraq, its most visible and capable affiliate" to over run Iraq and turn it into one giant terrorist training keep us safe from al Qaeda?
The 'rats literally don't understand or care about what is going on in the real world. Its all a hyper partisan game to them. Unfortunately the enemy thinks otherwise...
They ignored the 1993 Twin Towers attack, the USS Cole attack, the Khobar Towers attack on USAF personnel in Saudi Arabia. After the attacks on US embassies in Africa they bombed a baby formula plant.
Clinton did nothing to counter the growth of Islamic terrorism for his entire tenure in office. He just held press conference claiming credit for everything that happened in the world and shagged homely interns.
He did dismantle the huge military Regan built up in the 1980s: Remember the illusionary "peace dividend" we were promised? Cost us a fortune in the end. We once had the men to fight two big wars simultaneous. Now we have to scrounge for men. Thanks for nothing Clinton.
if they where refugees they wouldn’t have 25,000
And - even more perplexingly - they're not they're now. Well, they're there when a lefty wants to use their presence/alleged strength-gain to make the point that Bush screwed things up. But they're NOT there if a lefty is talking to someone who says we should remain in Iraq because they're there. In that case, they're only in Afghanistan which is the real location of the war on terror.
After all, these things are simultaneously true:
1. us being in Iraq is "distracting" us from fighting the "real" war on terror (=only in Afghanistan). Because Iraq has nothing to do with Al Qaeda.
2. us being in Iraq is attracting Al Qaeda to Iraq & making them stronger. Which is precisely what OBL wanted.
Both! true!
There is no way al Qaeda can use battle-hardened Iraqis to attack within the United States. First, there is no way we would give someone like them a visa. Second, our airtight border security prevents them from sneaking in.
Murtha, Pelosi, Feinstein, Kennedy, Kerry, Schumer, Boxer, Reid, and the rest of the useless Liberal cowards will suck up to Al Qaida and surrender. Pelosi will be ordering her burqua and prayer rug shortly.
Fairly affluent refugees, at $20-25,000 a head, I'd say.
NOVEMBER 28, 2006
SHUSTER: Welcome back to HARDBALL.
Congress may still be on break, but there‘s still tension in the air on Capitol Hill as Democrats wait to officially take over in January. Today, we got a good sense of what life will be like the incoming Democratic House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, jousting with the president. The issue today was Iraq. Let‘s watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There‘s a lot of sectarian violence taking place, fomented, in my opinion, because of these attacks by—by al Qaeda, causing people to seek reprisal.
NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), SPEAKER-ELECT OF THE HOUSE: My thoughts on the president‘s representations are well known. The 9/11 Commission dismissed that notion a long time ago, and I feel sad that the president is resorting to it again.
6:33 est and it still hasn’t made headline on cnn and msnbc
correction on time
8:33 est and it still hasn’t made headline on cnn and msnbc
Prediction: 20:33 EST - this story still won’t be on CNN and PMSNBC.
“In other words, for al Qaeda and the U.S., Iraq is the most important theater in the War on Terror.”
Our members of Congress from the Democratic Party say just the opposite. They have to placate their anti-war constituency, which is the biggest chunk of the Democratic Party.
As for the Republicans that join them, vote those Republicans out and replace them with people with some sense.
There’s a measure of truth to the assertion that al-Qaeda did not have a significant presence in Iraq before the war. Be that as it may, since the war began they’ve infested the place like cockroaches, and they’re not going away if we leave. On the other hand, leaving Iraq could be a scenario of “addition by subtraction”. i.e., The rest of the world is just sitting their with its popcorn while we’re sacrificing lives and money as Iraq becomes playground to al Qaeda and Iranian backed Shiite terrorists. In my estimate, there’s only two ways we win this war:
1. Military draft and troop explosion - say, an additional 150,000 to 200,000 boots on the ground. Chances of this happening - less than zero.
2. Withdraw from Iraq and force the issue on the European Union. If they’re going to refuse tactical and personnel support, let them reap the whirlwind. I submit that the EU has an even greater interest in containing Al Qaeda, given the geographic proximity and Iran’s nuclear program (and conventional long-range missile development).
Drastic? Yes. But we have to admit that the reality is: we’re politically paralyzed. We’ll never get the troops necessary to win this battle with the terrorists. The only way to increase is to decrease. Force the rest of the world to confront this. Sadly, this is our only hope.
The betrayal of our country by the Democratic party is historic. This betrayal is costing hundreds of lives of our servicemen and women. The outcome is a forgone conclusion with this ball and chain attached to our military. We need to get out of Iraq and regroup. Spare our soldiers this debacle and let the rest of the world deal with the consequence of their own cowardice. This is not World War II. We don’t have the personnel to sustain an operation like this. That’s the unfortunate reality.
Just a question.
#3...have you factored in, letting the military do what they do best and use all their skills without “silly” rules of engagement which do not allow the use of all force possible?
Just a question, an outcome, I can not see that you have considered.
Well reasoned and thought out but predicated on assumptions provided by the media.
The United States has never at any time been losing the war in iraq. The only potential of losing is a decision by the United States to withdraw. Up to the moment of withdrawal the US would have been winning in Iraq.
Al Qaeda has always fantasized about fighting US troops. That’s why they swarmed on us at Mogadishu. They will fight us anywhere they can.
The most striking success of the war in Iraq is the turning of the domestic population against Al Qaeda. Iraqis hate Al Qaeda more than Americans do. Plenty of anti war Americans empathize with Al Qaeda and see them in the Michael Moore light of early iraqi patriots. Aspects of this delusion are amplified in the media by fools such as Michael Ware.
The US is successfully training Iraqi security forces. Consequently, the impossible situation of Anbar is becoming LIKE THE MAJORITY OF IRAQ a pacified situation where Al Qaeda is picked off with ease.
The top Al Qaeda leader of Iraq was captured on July 4.
Since WWII the war of the world has been nothign more than a mind game against the American electorate. Anti American propaganda is produced over seas and here at home to convince us we are the biggest losers in the World when in point of fact humanity cannot get on our side fast enough because they see how horrendous all alternatives are.
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