U.S. intelligence analysts have concluded al-Qaida has rebuilt its operating capability to a level not seen since just before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, The Associated Press has learned.
The conclusion suggests that the network that launched the most devastating terror attack on the United States has been able to regroup along the Afghan-Pakistani border despite nearly six years of bombings, war and other tactics aimed at crippling it.
Still, numerous government officials say they know of no specific, credible threat of a new attack on U.S. soil.
The war that the Bush Regime has waged in Iraq has taken our focus off the global war on terror, allowing al-Qaida to rebuild.
Both President Bush and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff have attempted to play down this intelligence report. “I wouldn’t put it [the threat] at that level — in my own opinion,†said Chertoff. Bush claimed:
There is a perception in the coverage that al Qaeda may be as strong today as they were prior to September 11th. That’s simply not the case…because of the actions we’ve taken, al Qaeda is weaker today than they would have been.
The sad thing is that many people – patriots – knew this would happen. Intelligence reports warned both before and during the war that invading Iraq would serve as a rallying cry for terrorist and extremist organizations.
Plus, it took SIX YEARS for al-Qaida to come [i]BACK[/i] up to pre-9/11 levels? That sounds like we’ve actually accomplished something in preventing them from growing faster than they would have had we done nothing.
The main problem we have in dealing with the terrorists in the Afghan-Pakistan border area, is that it is a mountainous region, largely governed by local tribal sheiks and is an area where the authority of the Pakistani Government is mostly non-existant. In normal historical practice, the Pakistani government has always depended upon the sheikhs to govern the region, in a semi-autonomous manner.
That is a reality. It is a hard place to fight, the locals provide cover for the bad guys, for a variety of reasons, not the least being that the good guys (US, UK, Pakistani, Afghani Government forces) are ALL seen as foreign. There is a visceral dislike of the foreigner by these tribal folk.
That said though Ben, unless you wish to commit a further 150,000 US troopers as hard-handed occupation troops, which I doubt you would support, this war it is best fought by trying to exert pressure on indigenous Afghani & Pakistani forces to continue to go in, mix it up with the bad guys, with support from our US & UK Spec. Ops types and committed air assets.
As #2 noted above, the fact that it has taken 6 years for the bad guys to reconstitute themselves, in an area where we are NOT in occupation, goes to the fact that we are and have been, quite successful in disrupting them deeply and consistently.
what is the reason we ignore the fact that saudi arabia is such a huge force in radical Islam ?