Coalition Not Ready To Blame Al-Qaida For Basra (MSNBC)

[WillyT]

Coalition not ready to blame al-Qaida for Basra
Bombing death toll lowered to 50, British official says

<snip>

U.S. coalition officials said they believed those attacks were planned by a Jordanian al-Qaida linked militant, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who they say plans a campaign of massive attacks on Shiites in order to spark a civil war between Iraq's Shiite Muslim majority and Sunni minority. Abdul-Latif pointed to the similarities between that attack and the Basra bombings in making his link to al-Qaida.

But a U.S. counterterrorism official said it was "just premature to draw any conclusions." The official, who spoke on customary condition of anonymity, said that while al-Zarqawi's terror network may have been behind the bombing, Sunni extremists could also have carried out the attack as could tribal groups or former members of Saddam Hussein's regime.

The British commander in Iraq, Brig. Nick Carter, refused to blame al-Qaida for the attack, but said the attackers were from outside of Basra and "quite possibly" from outside Iraq.

"All that we can be certain of is that this is something that came from outside," Carter said on Britain's Channel Four News.

<snip>

Link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4667742/

Hmmm... Now why would the US draw up and put out premature conclusions, huh???

:shrug:

[rooboy]

1. They need to run some polls to see who's best to blame... n/t

[Wright Patman]

2. Al-Qaida

or however you spell it, from what I have gathered, is a creation of Western intelligence. This is why we have had so many fake bin Laden tapes immediately declared "authentic" by the CIA. It is in their interest to keep the "legend" alive. You have to have a viable enemy to keep up the pressure for increased military and intel budgets.

[0007]

3. ......more unreliable story telling -

attackers were from outside of Basra and "quite possibly" from outside Iraq.

"All that we can be certain of is that this is something that came from outside,"

When 'ya don't know anything and 'ya want to cover your ass, it must come from the outside.

[DivinBreuvage]

4. I thought Al Qaida was responsible for everything!

Except, of course, for the things that are Clinton's fault.