A BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT

DNC Press

MUST READS: Republicans Have Ignored the Real Terrorists

Washington, DC - Today, the Washington Post and The New York Times shed more light on the National Intelligence Estimate released yesterday that confirmed what Democrats and experts have been saying for some time-the war in Iraq has kept us from fighting the real war on terror and enabled terrorist networks like Al Qaeda to rebuild.

The Washington Post noted that the "White House faced fresh political peril" and The New York Times explained that one White House official "found herself in the uncomfortable position of explaining why American military action was focused in Iraq." Six years after 9/11, Osama bin Laden is still on the loose, plotting against us, and the Bush Administration's response is to once again ignore the truth and spin the facts, leaving our country no safer than it was before.

Intelligence Puts Rationale For War on Shakier Ground
By Michael Abramowitz
Washington Post

"The White House faced fresh political peril yesterday in the form of a new intelligence assessment that raised sharp questions about the success of its counterterrorism strategy and judgment in making Iraq the focus of that effort. Since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, President Bush has been able to deflect criticism of his counterterrorism policy by repeatedly noting the absence of any new domestic attacks and by citing the continuing threat that terrorists in Iraq pose to U.S. interests.

"But this line of defense seemed to unravel a bit yesterday with the release of a new National Intelligence Estimate that concludes that al-Qaeda ‘has protected or regenerated key elements of its Homeland attack capability' by reestablishing a haven in Pakistan and reconstituting its top leadership. The report also notes that al-Qaeda has been able ‘to recruit and indoctrinate operatives, including for Homeland attacks,' by associating itself with an Iraqi subsidiary...

"Some terrorism analysts say Bush has used inflated rhetoric to depict al-Qaeda in Iraq as part of the same group of extremists that attacked the United States on Sept. 11 -- noting that the group did not exist until after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. These analysts say Bush also has overlooked the contribution that U.S. actions have made to the growth of al-Qaeda in Iraq, which has been described as kind of a franchise of the main al-Qaeda network headed by bin Laden."

Here is the entire article [1].

Bush Aides See Failure in Fight With Al Qaeda in Pakistan
By Mark Mazzetti and David E. Sanger
The New York Times

"President Bush's top counterterrorism advisers acknowledged Tuesday that the strategy for fighting Osama bin Laden's leadership of Al Qaeda in Pakistan had failed, as the White House released a grim new intelligence assessment that has forced the administration to consider more aggressive measures inside Pakistan.

"The intelligence report, the most formal assessment since the Sept. 11 attacks about the terrorist threat facing the United States, concludes that the United States is losing ground on a number of fronts in the fight against Al Qaeda, and describes the terrorist organization as having significantly strengthened over the past two years...

"At the White House, Ms. Townsend found herself in the uncomfortable position of explaining why American military action was focused in Iraq when the report concluded that main threat of terror attacks that could be carried out in the United States emanated from the tribal areas of Pakistan."

Here is the entire article [2].

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT Technorati Tags: Alerts [8] National Intelligence Estimate [9] Republican incompetence [10] Washington Post [11] The New York Times [12]