Reply #14: US spy chiefs say Bush's war is spur to jihad [View All]

[maddezmom]

Intelligence officials say Iraq conflict has fuelled rise in Islamic fundamentalism Assessment blows a hole in White House optimism over war on terror A STARK assessment of terrorism trends by 16 intelligence agencies in the United States has found that the US-led invasion and occupation of Iraq has helped to spawn a new generation of Islamic radicalism and that the overall terrorist threat has grown since the attacks of 11 September, 2001.

The classified National Intelligence Estimate, completed in April, is the first formal appraisal of global terrorism by US intelligence agencies since the Iraq war began and it represents a consensus view of the 16 disparate spy services inside the American government.

Entitled Trends in Global Terrorism: Implications for the United States, it asserts that Islamic radicalism, rather than being in retreat, is growing and spread worldwide.

An opening section of the report, Indicators of the Spread of the Global Jihadist Movement, cites the Iraq war as a reason for the diffusion of jihad ideology.

The report "says that the Iraq war has made the overall terrorism problem worse", said one US intelligence official.

more:http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=1413652006