Iraq war created a terrorist flood, American spymasters warn Bush

Paul Harris in Washington and Peter Beaumont in Baghdad
Sunday September 24, 2006
The Observer

America’s spy agencies have concluded that the invasion of Iraq has created a flood of new Islamic terrorists and increased the danger to US interests to a higher level than at any time since the 9/11 attacks.

This grim assessment is provided in a classified intelligence document called the National Intelligence Estimate, large parts of which have been leaked to the New York Times. The report is the largest US intelligence survey of the global terror threat carried out since the invasion of Iraq in March 2003.

Its conclusion will surprise few critics of the Iraq war or US policy against terrorism. It is, however, a sharp contrast to the message often coming out of the White House and provides a far more harrowing assessment of terrorism than a congressional report published last week.

The White House and senior Republicans often say their tough line has made America safer over the past five years. This report indicates that America’s spymasters disagree with that opinion, and its findings could embarrass President George Bush in the run-up to November’s crucial midterm elections.

Read more at Guardian Unlimited

Violence begets violence, and so the horrors continue…