Iraq War Swells Al Qaeda's Ranks, Report Says

[paradisiac]

BushCo was warned this would be a result of the invasion of Iraq. And I hope this gets play in the Big Media because Americans really need to know that underneath their tough guy talk the Republicans are failing miserably in the war on terror and making the world less safe every day.

LONDON (Reuters) - War in Iraq has swollen the ranks of al Qaeda and galvanized the Islamic militant group's will, the International Institute for Strategic Studies said on Wednesday in its annual report.

The 2003-2004 edition of the British-based think-tank's annual bible for defense analysts, The Military Balance, said Washington's assertions after the Iraq conflict that it had turned the corner in the war on terror were "over-confident."

The report, widely considered an authoritative text on the military capabilities of states and militant groups worldwide, could prove fodder for critics of the U.S.-British invasion and of the reconstruction effort that has followed in Iraq.

read more here:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/nm/20031015/ts_nm/security_iraq_balance_dc

[Minstrel Boy]

1. Bring 'em on. And on. And on. And on...

Naturally it swelled the ranks. Like tens of millions around the world were saying for months before the war.

But hell, perpetual war needs perpetual enemies. So maybe to some minds all is unfolding as it should.

[Papa]

2. I thought it was curious that ...

The report also asserts that on the positive side the war has denied Al Qaeda access to weapons of mass destruction.

How can it be asserted that Al Qaeda has been denied access to weapons of mass destruction? Bush says the weapons are there in Iraq, it's just a matter of finding them. If we can't find them but we know they are there, how is that good news having Al Qaeda running around Iraq with weapons of mass destruction on the loose?

[JHB]

3. "Operation al Qaeda Recruiting Drive"...

...was the name I gave it when they started pushing for it last year.

Thanks, George.

:puke:

[welshTerrier2]

4. Here's Another Link to the Story

i couldn't get to the story with the link posted in the base post ...

here's another link that worked:

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=2C32AAJW3NBCGCRBAEZSFEY?type=topNews&storyID=3617357

[killbotfactory]

5. Who could have possibly seen this coming?

:shrug:

[Brian Sweat]

8. What? You act like any national security expert should have known

that invading a muslim country without provocation would trigger anti-American outrage and bolster the ranks of Middle Eastern terrorist organizations. :nuke:

[Brian Sweat]

6. And thus the folly of the "fly paper theory."

There is not a finite number of terrorists that can be easily tied down by invading a country. By invading Iraq, the Bush administration has done far greater harm to national security than Bin Laden could have ever hoped to achieve.

On Edit: Iraqi news reports make excellent recruiting videos for Al Qaeda.

[leftofthedial]

7. yes, all is going according to the Bush/PNAC cabal's plan

for perpetual war, perpetual terror and perpetual fear