Yeah...what makes you think the invasion of Iraq did not serve Al Qaeda's interests? Maybe its not Ron Paul's views on the current World War that are misguided...the people who actually make a living by knowing something about AQ seem to mostly agree with his take on Iraq and the war against Al Qaeda
The CIA believes the Iraq insurgency poses an international threat and may produce better-trained Islamic terrorists than the 1980s Afghanistan war that gave rise to Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda, a US counter-terrorism official said.
A classified report from the US spy agency says Iraqi and foreign fighters are developing a broad range of deadly skills, from car bombings and assassinations to tightly coordinated conventional attacks on police and military targets, the official said.
Once the insurgency ends, Islamic militants are likely to disperse as highly organised battle-hardened combatants capable of operating throughout the Arab-speaking world and in other regions including Europe.
But the May report, which has been widely circulated in the intelligence community, also cites a potential threat to the United States.
"You have people coming to the action with anti-US sentiment ... And since they're Iraqi or foreign Arabs or to some degree Kurds, they have more communities they can blend into outside Iraq," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the report's classified status.
--Iraq insurgency may have international ramifications: CIA
Iraq insurgency may have international ramifications: CIA
Islamic extremists are exploiting the Iraqi conflict to recruit new anti-U.S. Jihadists. Those Jihadists who survive will leave Iraq experienced in, and focused on acts of urban terrorism. They represent a potential pool of contacts to build transnational terrorist cells, groups, networks, in Saudi Arabia, Jordan and other countries.
--CIA Director Porter Goss, testimony to Congress, February 16, 2005
And who are these radicalized Islamic terrorists? Are we really drawing existing terrorists into Iraq so that we can better kill them? Not exactly...two separate studies indicate that most of the terrorists killing American soldiers in Iraq were never before engaged in terrorist activities...the American presence in Iraq is inspiring them to become Islamist terrorists
From the study done in 2005 by the Israeli think tank, Global Research in International Affairs:
From the partial data available of Arab volunteers killed in Iraq, we can further learn that some of them, not only Saudis, came from wealthy or upper middle class families. Some were students who left their studies in order to join the battle in Iraq. Only few were involved in past Islamist insurgencies in Afghanistan, Bosnia, or Chechnya. Three Saudis, two Lebanese, and one Kuwaiti were sons of Afghan alumni. Yet, the vast majority of Arabs killed in Iraq have never taken part in any terrorist activity prior to their arrival in Iraq. One Syrian was 13 years old and with his father in Fallujah, where the two were killed.
Many of the Arabs killed in Iraq, especially the Saudis, went to Iraq in groups, consisting mainly of friends, and some were influenced by brothers or other family members to join the Jihad.
-- Global Research in International Affairs
ARAB VOLUNTEERS KILLED IN IRAQ: AN ANALYSIS
I can tell you this. In November or December of 2001, when, you know, America and coalition forces invaded Afghanistan, and fought the battle of Tora Bora, although we didn't capture or kill bin Laden or Zawahri or some of the other top lieutenants, Al-Qaida was essentially dead.
It was not only that most of the members had been killed or captured. It was repudiated throughout the world. And it -- you know, the internal documents show that they were in great despair. Unfortunately, Iraq has given -- the -- the war in Iraq has given them new life. And I -- I fear the progeny of Al-Qaida are going to be with us for a long time.
--Lawrence Wright, author of Looming Towers--Pulitzer Prize winning book on Al Qaeda
Michael Scheurer, former head of the CIA's Bin Laden desk on the invasion of Iraq:
if Osama was a Christian it was the Christmas present he’d always asked his parents for but would have never believed it would actually be delivered. Ah it broke the back of American counter terrorism efforts and counter terrorism policy ah in many ways and I have to say I’m not an expert on Iraq in terms of Saddam’s regime but before we went into Iraq we should have really balanced the two. Ah whatever the threats Saddam posed, what we’ve done by going into Iraq is basically validate what everything that al Qaeda has said about the Americans for the past decade in the eyes, at least in the eyes of Muslim. The Americans lust after ah Arab oil. They’ll destroy any Muslim government that stands up to them. They’ll destroy any Muslim government that threatens Israel. They will, they intend to annihilate Islam and occupy our sanctities while I bet no one even mentioned to the President before the invasion of Iraq that Iraq is the second most important place in Islam so ah in terms of what we have now, what we have is Afghanistan to the tenth degree because Afghanistan when the Soviets invaded was an Islamic backwater. It took a long time before the Middle East really began pumping fighters and money into Afghanistan. Iraq is smack in the heart of the Arab homeland and it’s going to be a magnet for Mujahadeen for the foreseeable future.
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, in a letter intercepted and translated by Centcom states that AQ would like to “prolong the war”:
The most important thing is that you continue in your jihad in Iraq, and that you be patient and forbearing, even in weakness, and even with fewer operations; even if each day had half of the number of current daily operations, that is not a problem, or even less than that. So, do not be hasty. The most important thing is that the jihad continues with steadfastness and firm rooting, and that it grows in terms of supporters, strength, clarity of justification, and visible proof each day.Indeed, prolonging the war is in our interest, with God’s permission