Have US efforts really swelled Al Qaeda's ranks?

[CShine]

While officials of the FBI and the Justice Department of the US were telling citizens this week to prepare for possible terrorist attacks over the summer (although Thursday there appeared to be some confusion among US officials over those warnings), a well-known strategic think tank and two human rights organizations were questioning the direction and value of the US-led war on terror. They alleged that the war was actually leading to increased terrorism around the world.

Early in the week, the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), a London-based think tank, released its annual survey of world affairs. The Associated Press reports that the IISS claims that, far from being undermined by the war on terror, Al Qaeda "has more than 18,000 potential terrorists scattered around the world and the war in Iraq is swelling its ranks."

Driving the terror network out of Afghanistan in late 2001 appears to have benefited the group, which dispersed to many countries, making it almost invisible and hard to combat, the report said. The US occupation of Iraq brought Al Qaeda recruits from across Islamic nations, the study said. Up to 1,000 foreign Islamic fighters have infiltrated Iraqi territory, where they are cooperating with Iraqi insurgents.

IISS researcher Christopher Langton told reporters that it could take up to 500,000 US and allied troops to effectively police Iraq and restore political stability. And Knight-Ridder News Service carries the IISS claim that Al Qaeda continues its efforts to find material to make a nuclear or 'dirty' bomb.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0528/dailyUpdate.html

[maggrwaggr]

1. gee, I wonder why?