The WaPo has the story on a 119-page report just released by the National Intelligence Center, a CIA thinktank (hat tip: Oliver Willis). The NIC’s director told the Post: "At the moment, Iraq is a magnet for international terrorist activity." Also, the report also adds Iraq to the list of conflicts that "have deepened solidarity among Muslims and helped spread radical Islamic theology."
I don’t claim to be any kind of expert on the situation in Iraq, or on international terrorism. And I genuinely hope that the security situation in Iraq improves to the point that it can be truly said that the people of Iraq are better off. But in light of this new report, together with the recent disclosure that the unsuccessful search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq is officially over … how is it, again, that the invasion of Iraq made the people of the United States safer?
David; the answer is clearly obvious. It hasn’t. In fact, as the report states, it has exacerbated the problem of anti-American/anti-Western hatred, which was spawned by successive US governments and their unmitigated support for the most oppressive and tyrannical regimes in the region. Can you say ‘son of bin Laden?’
I’d rather Iraq be the magnet than CONUS. When it comes to fighting terrorism, worrying about whether a terrorist likes you is very likely to result in your head being handed to you on a platter. Try to remember that terrorism is a TACTIC aimed at concentrating power into the hands of a few willful men for their own benefit despite the secular or non-secular rhetoric used to dress-up the terrorist’s propaganda. This is true regardless of whether the terrorist is Irish, Iraqi, or a card carrying member of the American Ku Klux Klan. It is easy to get sucked into the terrorist’s game by focusing on the dialog when the terrorist’s real objective is simply to acquire or maintain his power. Yasser Arafat was a master of the game, and he sucked Arab and non-Arab victims alike into his game right up to the moment he died. Frankly, terrorism is a simple game, with a simple plan, and a simple objective–power. Considering who is playing the game, do you really want to give them power? Think about it.
Mike,Thanks for your note. I don’t think anybody, anybody gives a damn about whether terrorists “like us”. Nobody — not a President Gore, Dean, Kucinich or McGovern — would try to convice bin Laden or Zarqawi to be our friend. We’re trying to kill them.It emphatically does matter if the terrorists are winning the propaganda war in the Muslim world through our own clumsiness (like bombing a wedding party in Afghanistan) or outright malice (like Abu Ghraib). (Let’s not get caught up in the examples; we both know they are legion.)We need the help of moderate, normal people in the Muslim world to keep us safe. Thus, we need to be perceived as being on their side — i.e. a “hearts and minds” strategy — in order for them to want to and be able to provide us with military and intelligence assistance. We’re doing an absolutely rotten job of that right now, and it’s making us less safe.