Has the WH responded to the leaked Iraq Intell story? lots of stories

[rodeodance]

but just wondering if others has read or heard anything?


These are some of the stories previously posted on DU:

Sun Sep-24-06 12:28 PM
Original message
Leaked intelligence report rocks Bush election stance
Leaked intelligence report rocks Bush election stance
(AFP)

24 September 2006

NEW YORK - US spy agencies dropped a political bombshell six weeks before national elections, with the leak Sunday of a classified report concluding that the war in Iraq has spawned a new wave of Islamic radicalism and increased the global threat of terrorism.

The intelligence document rocked a central pillar of the Republican Party’s campaign platform ahead of November elections: that the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the ouster of Saddam Hussein made America safer, not weaker.

With opinion polls showing President George W. Bush’s party possibly losing control of both houses of Congress in the the mid-term polls, in large part due to unhappiness over the war in Iraq, the report stating categorically the opposite will make for painful reading at the White House.

Bush has argued repeatedly in pre-election speeches that Iraq is the central front in the war on terrorism and that demands for a US troop withdrawal from the country by the opposition Democrats underscores why the center-left party should not be trusted with the nation’s security.
(snip/...)

http://www.khaleejtimes.ae/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=... §ion=theworld&col=


Sun Sep-24-06 11:15 AM
Original message
Intelligence report opposite from*statements;Iraq war hurting terror fight
WP
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14975242/from/RS.2 /

Iraq war hurting terror fight, spy agencies say
Jihadists using conflict as rallying cry, National Intelligence Estimate finds

By Karen DeYoung

Updated: 2 hours ago
WASHINGTON - The war in Iraq has become the primary recruitment vehicle for violent Islamic extremists, motivating a new generation of potential terrorists around the world whose numbers are increasing faster than the United States and its allies are eliminating the threat, U.S. intelligence analysts have concluded.

A 30-page National Intelligence Estimate completed in April cites the "centrality" of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, and the insurgency that has followed, as the leading inspiration for new Islamic extremist networks and cells that are united by little more than an anti-Western agenda. Rather than contributing to eventual victory in the global counterterrorism struggle, it concludes that the situation in Iraq has worsened the U.S. position, according to officials familiar with the classified document.

<<snip>>

At odds with recent Bush speeches

The NIE, whose contents were first reported by the New York Times, coincides with public statements by senior intelligence officials describing a different kind of conflict than the one outlined by President Bush in a series of recent speeches marking the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

"Together with our coalition partners," Bush said in an address earlier this month to the Military Officers Association of America, "we've removed terrorist sanctuaries, disrupted their finances, killed and captured key operatives, broken up terrorist cells in America and other nations, and stopped new attacks before they're carried out. We're on the offense against the terrorists on every battlefront, and we'll accept nothing less than complete victory."

But the battlefronts intelligence analysts depict are far more impenetrable and difficult, if not impossible, to combat with the standard tools of warfare.
................
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/24/world/middleeast/24terror.html?hp&ex=1159070400&en=003f596f66422cfd&ei=5094&partner=homepage
Spy Agencies Say Iraq War Worsens Terrorism Threat
By MARK MAZZETTI
Published: September 24, 2006

WASHINGTON, Sept. 23 — A stark assessment of terrorism trends by American intelligence agencies has found that the American invasion and occupation of Iraq has helped spawn a new generation of Islamic radicalism and that the overall terrorist threat has grown since the Sept. 11 attacks.

The classified National Intelligence Estimate attributes a more direct role to the Iraq war in fueling radicalism than that presented either in recent White House documents or in a report released Wednesday by the House Intelligence Committee, according to several officials in Washington involved in preparing the assessment or who have read the final document.

The intelligence estimate, completed in April, is the first formal appraisal of global terrorism by United States intelligence agencies since the Iraq war began, and represents a consensus view of the 16 disparate spy services inside government. Titled “Trends in Global Terrorism: Implications for the United States,’’ it asserts that Islamic radicalism, rather than being in retreat, has metastasized and spread across the globe.

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............



Sun Sep-24-06 12:47 PM
Response to Reply #3
4. Sen Kerry's statement
John Kerry on Government Findings that Iraq Policy is Creating Terrorists

“The National Intelligence Estimate provides jarring confirmation that the disastrous policy in Iraq is a giant recruiting poster for terrorists and it is weakening our hand in the war on terror. Terrorist organizations from Al Qaeda to Hezbollah are thrilled that we are bogged down in Iraq, even as the Administration misleads America with fear and sloganeering.

“The truth is clear: Rather than being the central front in the war on terror President Bush claims, Iraq is a fuel depot for terror fanning the flames of worldwide jihadism. Incompetence and ideology has left us with more terrorists in the world who want to kill Americans.

“Make no mistake, there is no way to regain lost ground in the war on terror without redeploying out of Iraq and making Iraqis stand up for Iraq. We must set a deadline to get out of Iraq and refocus on the real war on terror.”


Sun Sep-24-06 12:02 PM
Original message
Dem Leader Reid Jumps on Report Showing Iraq War Fueling Terror
Reid: Contrary to White House PR Campaign, Bush Iraq Policies Have Made America Less Safe

9/24/2006 12:48:00 PM

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=73052

Contact: Jim Manley or Rebecca Kirszner, 202-224-2939, both of the Office of Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid

WASHINGTON, Sept. 24 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid today issued the following statement on press reports that the National Intelligence Estimate, the most authoritative summary of the opinion of America's intelligence community, has concluded that the war in Iraq has made the threat of terrorism worse:

"Once again, the American people have learned that the Bush Administration has not been honest with them about the war in Iraq. Press reports say our nation's intelligence services have confirmed that President Bush's repeated missteps in Iraq and his stubborn refusal to change course have made America less safe. No election-year White House PR campaign can hide this truth. It is crystal clear that America's security demands we change course in Iraq. The war in Iraq is now in its fourth year and Congress has yet to ask the tough questions and get the honest answers our nation's security demands. Tomorrow, that will change. With the Democratic Policy Committee's hearings into the conduct of the war in Iraq, we will finally take America in a new direction."

------

President Bush's Recent Claims of Progress in Combating Terrorism Are at Odds with Today's Press Reports of the National Intelligence Estimate's Conclusions

-- Bush said his policies are keeping terrorists under constant pressure, and keeping America safer. "(W)e're determined to prevent terrorist attacks before they occur. So we're taking the fight to the enemy. The best way to protect America is to stay on the offense. Since 9/11, our coalition has captured or killed al Qaeda managers and operatives, and scores of other terrorists across the world. The enemy is living under constant pressure, and we intend to keep it that way -- and this adds to our security. When terrorists spend their days working to avoid death or capture, it's harder for them to plan and execute new attacks." (President Discusses Global War on Terror, Washington, D.C., 9/5/06)

-- Bush said America is winning the war on terror after having "transformed former adversaries into allies". "We've learned the lessons of 9/11, and we have addressed the gaps in our defenses exposed by that attack. We've gone on the offense against our enemies, and transformed former adversaries into allies. We have put in place the institutions needed to win this war. Five years after Sept. the 11th, 2001, America is safer -- and America is winning the war on terror." (President Bush Discusses Progress in the Global War on Terror, Atlanta, 9/7/06)

-- Bush said America is safer because of action overseas. "Many Americans look at (terrorist attacks in Britain, Spain, India, Turkey, Russia, Indonesia, Jordan, Israel, Afghanistan and Iraq) and ask the same question: Five years after 9/11, are we safer? The answer is, yes, America is safer. We are safer because we've taken action to protect the homeland. We are safer because we are on offense against our enemies overseas. We're safer because of the skill and sacrifice of the brave Americans who defend our people." (President Bush Discusses Progress in the Global War on Terror, Atlanta, 9/7/06)

-- Bush claimed his policies in the Middle East would make America more secure. "And by leading the cause of freedom in the vital region, we will change the conditions that give rise to radicalism and hatred and terror. We will replace violent dictatorships with peaceful democracies. We'll make America, the Middle East, and the world more secure." (President Bush Discusses Progress in the Global War on Terror, Atlanta, 9/7/06)

-- Bush asserted that supporting democracy in Iraq is making America more secure. "By advancing freedom and democracy as the great alternative to repression and radicalism, and by supporting young democracies like Iraq, we are helping to bring a brighter future to this region -- and that will make America and the world more secure." (President's Radio Address, 9/9/06)

-- Bush said the "terrorists disagree" with the contention that Iraq is a distraction from the fight against terrorism. "The fighting in Iraq has been difficult and it has been bloody, and some say that Iraq is a diversion from the war on terror. The terrorists disagree." (President Bush Discusses Progress in the Global War on Terror, Atlanta, 9/7/06)

-- Bush said the U.S. is on the offense in the fight against terrorism. "We're a nation at war -- and America and her allies are fighting this war with relentless determination across the world. Together with our coalition partners, we've removed terrorist sanctuaries, disrupted their finances, killed and captured key operatives, broken up terrorist cells in America and other nations, and stopped new attacks before they're carried out. We're on the offense against the terrorists on every battlefront -- and we'll accept nothing less than complete victory." (President Discusses Global War on Terror, Washington, D.C., 9/5/06)

[stellanoir]

1. Gee but I thought

invading, occupying a sovereign nation without provoction based on bogus intelligence (aka sheer stupicity) with no respect for their culture, incarcerating, torturing, and killing mostly innocent civilians was a brilliant way of winning the hearts and minds.

/sarcasm

[Windy]

2. We hear at DU and anyone with half a brain knew this already!! n/t

[rodeodance]

3. yes, that is for sure.

[ShortnFiery]

4. They don't have to respond, just order the M$M not to cover the story.

The USA M$M is nothing more than a mouthpiece for The Executive Branch. The only difference between them is a matter of degree. But at the end of the day, these corporate exec. media whores always sell themselves to the "money and power" elite perspective, i.e., the WSJ investor class. :grr:

[Peace Patriot]

5. No, I haven't, and I've been ranging around the "news" today. And it's

kind of strange that there weren't Bushite pre-emptive strikes with their lapdog press, and Cheney, Rice, Rumsfeld all over the news shows today. I haven't seen any reports of it. A quick look at Google headlines shows nothing but trouble for Bush except that he gets to keep torturing people. We've got doubts cast on OBL death, US apologizes to Venezuela, 9 dead in storms in the Midwest and South, the flap with Pakistan about whether Bush threatened to bomb them*, and archaeologists have found the "missing link" between chimpanzees and humans (3.3 million year old child's skull called "Lucy daughter"). Plus, this report that the Iraq war spawned terrorism.

Do you think they were blind-sided? Or maybe they don't care. They're counting on their buds at Diebold and ES&S to bail them out again in November.

*My theory about OBL goes back about a week, to when Musharraf said something like, we welcome our Islamic brother OBL to PAK as our guest, as long as he doesn't make any trouble. Then Musharraf hightailed it over here to kiss up to Bush. Weird. My theory: The PAKs killed OBL to please the Bush Cartel (deprive the Dems of the talking point--Bush's disinterest in OBL) (--it's on to Iran now), but they can't admit this to the Islamic world (too many Muslims consider him a hero), ergo: newsturd 1: say something that sounds kind and pro-OBL (to cover up that he's been killed); newsturd 2: leak it from the Saudis (via some fascist French intel agent), that he's dead (of "natural causes"); newsturd 3: photo op with Bush, to solicit help if the masses find out what really happened to OBL at the hands of the PAK government.

Pretty good, huh?

[rodeodance]

6. They knew about it as it was compiled in April already.

[rodeodance]

8. "Or maybe they don't care." You are prob. right on this.

[rodeodance]

7. "This report alone ought to dictate the outcome of the election" (below)

good blog.


http://glenngreenwald.blogspot.com/2006/09/this-report-alone-ought-to-dictate.html


.....Saturday, September 23, 2006
This report alone ought to dictate the outcome of the election

(updated below)

If I were shaping the Democrats' election strategy, I would create a television commercial where someone reads the following four paragraphs -- from a new report in the NYT today -- and then I would air it over and over and over every single day as much as possible until November 7:


A stark assessment of terrorism trends by American intelligence agencies has found that the American invasion and occupation of Iraq has helped spawn a new generation of Islamic radicalism and that the overall terrorist threat has grown since the Sept. 11 attacks.

The classified National Intelligence Estimate attributes a more direct role to the Iraq war in fueling radicalism than that presented either in recent White House documents or in a report released Wednesday by the House Intelligence Committee, according to several officials in Washington involved in preparing the assessment or who have read the final document.

The intelligence estimate, completed in April, is the first formal appraisal of global terrorism by United States intelligence agencies since the Iraq war began, and represents a consensus view of the 16 disparate spy services inside government. Titled “Trends in Global Terrorism: Implications for the United States,’’ it asserts that Islamic radicalism, rather than being in retreat, has metastasized and spread across the globe........