Graham's whole speech is very prescient.
On July 16, speaking to Electronic Telegraph of the United Kingdom, US troop commander General Frank "Buster" Hagenbeck, based at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, reported increased attacks over recent weeks on US and Afghan forces by the Taliban, al-Qaeda and other anti-US groups that have joined hands. He also revealed some other very interesting information: the Taliban and its allies have regrouped in Pakistan and are recruiting fighters from religious schools in Quetta in a campaign funded by drug trafficking. Hagenbeck also said that these enemies of US and Afghan forces have been joined by Al-Qaeda commanders who are establishing new cells and sponsoring the attempted capture of American troops. One other piece of news of import from Hagenbeck is that the Taliban have seized whole swathes of the country.
Hagenbeck's statements were virtually ignored in Washington Asia TimesIn a January 12, 2003 letter to close supporters, Graham wrote, "Our country enters 2003 in serious need of a more strategic understanding of the world and America's role in it. No one can argue that what constitutes American security changed on September 11, 2001. And while the President launched the War on Terrorism with clearly articulated goals, there has emerged an unnerving and expanding gulf between rhetoric and results. My perspective, shaped through my service as Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, is that this administration's dominant focus on Iraq diverts important attention and resources from our domestic security and the actions required to win the War on Terrorism."
January 10, 2003I want someone to lead us who has a clue. These are deadly serious matters. While Bush fiddles in Iraq, al-Queda burns. I think this country is run by fools. I'm frankly beginning to wonder if we'll make it to the 2004 elections.