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Misreading Iraq, Again

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Though Bush’s analyses turned out wrong, he continues to view Iraq through rose-colored glasses of false hope. Even the new signs of “success” in Anbar could dissipate overnight if the Sunnis conclude that Bush will succeed in sustaining U.S. military domination over Iraq for the foreseeable future.

Then, the military supplies and other help that U.S. forces are giving to Sunni tribal leaders – to secure their cooperation against al-Qaeda – could be turned against American troops. An open-ended U.S. occupation also would give another boost to al-Qaeda, buying the terrorist group more time to rebuild its global capabilities.

Despite President Bush’s insistence that prolonging the Iraq War means that the terrorists can’t “follow us home,” Secretary for Homeland Security Michael Chertoff has declared that he has a “gut feeling” that al-Qaeda is about to do just that, strike again in the United States.

Behind Chertoff’s remark was a new five-page U.S. intelligence report, entitled “Al-Qaeda Better Positioned to Strike the West.” According to this CIA threat assessment, al-Qaeda has succeeded in establishing a safe haven inside Pakistan and rebuilding its ability to attack Western and U.S. targets.

“We see more training; we see more money; we see more communications,” the CIA’s deputy director for intelligence, John A. Kringen, told a House committee on July 11. [Washington Post, July 12, 2007]

The CIA’s assessment means that almost six years after the 9/11 attacks, Bush’s "war on terror" strategy has not only failed to neutralize al-Qaeda but has enabled the terrorist organization to rebound.

Besides his failure to cut off bin Laden’s escape routes from Tora Bora in December 2001, Bush opened the door to al-Qaeda’s recovery by shifting the focus of the U.S. military away from al-Qaeda’s bases near the Pakistani-Afghan border to Iraq.

Then, by invading Iraq in March 2003, Bush made himself al-Qaeda’s poster boy for rallying a new generation of angry Muslims to the banner of Islamic extremism. And, over the past four-plus years, Bush has made the bloody U.S. occupation of Iraq a gift to al-Qaeda that keeps on giving.

In short, another Bush triumph over his Iraq War critics in Congress could well represent an even bigger victory for al-Qaeda.

 

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Robert Parry broke many of the Iran-Contra stories in the 1980s for the Associated Press and Newsweek. His latest book, Secrecy & Privilege: Rise of the Bush Dynasty from Watergate to Iraq, can be ordered at secrecyandprivilege.com. It's also available at
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