What the US public believes about al-Qaeda

In response to my recent posts about the National Intelligence Report (NIE) on al-Qaeda growing stronger, I've received a wide variety of responses. Virtually all of the responses convince me that most people in this country don't trust what our government is telling us about al-Qaeda:

1. There is no such thing as al-Qaeda. It is a fabrication. 9/11 was planned and carried out by our "shadow government." I understand that about 30% of the people in this country believe that 9/11 was an inside job.

2. The NIE report is exaggerating the strength of al-Qaeda. Its top leadership has been wiped out. and it doesn't have the ability to wreak damage on the US homeland. My question: What about the rest of the world?

3. The NIE report is accurate, and the Bush cabal got diverted by attacking Iraq, thereby allowing al-Qaeda to reestablish itself. In fact, starting a war with Iraq has made it easier for al-Qaeda to recruit.

I really don't know what is true about al-Qaeda. What I do know is that Bush's and Cheney's incredible need to operate in secrecy, without any oversight, has led to an extraordinary level of distrust in our current administration.

(photo: phxnews.com)

Update on the NIE report that al-Qaeda is stronger than ever

Yesterday I posted Why is al-Qaeda stronger now than it was in 2001?, linking to an hour-long interview by Michael Krasny of four Middle Eastern experts, focusing on the recently released NIE (National Intelligence Estimate) report on the continuing threat from al-Qaeda.

I’ve read most of today’s news articles on this subject and have concluded that the Krasny interview is still the best source of information and opinion on the NIE report.

President Bush keeps saying that we’re fighting them “over there” so we don’t have to fight them here. As one of the experts interviewed by Krasny pointed out, al-Qaeda wants to engage the US in bloody wars closer to its home, i.e., the Middle East. It has succeeded in its goal of drawing us in to Afghanistan and Iraq, at great cost both in US lives and resources. There’s also the possibility that before Bush leaves office, Iran will be attacked.

It feels obscene to ignore the carnage that is taking place in the Middle East, the death and destruction raining down on the residents of the countries we’ve invaded, the death and injuries to coalition soldiers, and the tremendous waste of our resources while boasting that our “homeland” is being kept safe. Is Bush being confronted about this mammoth, gigantic, monumental hypocrisy?

If you want to follow the news on the NIE report, the best one-stop place to go for what the mainstream media (MSM) is saying is Dan Froomkin’s blog, White House Watch, where he’s posted Bush's Osama problem: “Nearly six years after President Bush pledged to capture him "dead or alive," Osama bin Laden is not only still at large, but he and his al-Qaeda organization have apparently benefited greatly from Bush's decision to invade Iraq.

“That's not just me saying so. It's the inevitable conclusion from the declassified summary of a White House intelligence report released to great fanfare yesterday.”

Scroll on down Froomkin’s post to the numerous links to MSM articles.

Then go to Scott Horton’s Newflash from the ministry of fear, where you’ll find this comment: “And yesterday we have the latest assault on reason. The National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Al Qaeda is declassified and released in part. The NIE itself is a significant document, and read with some care. It points to the magnitude of the conceptual and tactical failures of the administration’s ‘war on terror’: it has not effectively engaged Al Qaeda. Instead, just as Richard Clarke and other professionals warned at the outset, it has taken the wrong turn at every crossing and has actually served to fan the flames of the Al Qaeda movement. Consequently, approaching six years into the war, Al Qaeda is back and as strong as at the time of its 9/11 attack on America. "

Finally, check out Juan Cole’s post this morning, NIE: Iraq Fueling al-Qaeda Threat to US, which opens with, “Fred Kaplan at Slate points out that it does not take much reading between the lines to conclude that the new National Intelligence Estimate indicates that Bush`s Iraq War has generated a new and deadly threat against the US. In other words, the US had al-Qaeda on the run and would be safer now if it hadn`t invaded Iraq.”

(photo: IntelCenter, on Saturday, July 14, 2007, shows Osama bin Laden in a new videotape posted on a militant Web site by Al-Qaida's media production wing)

Why is al-Qaeda stronger now than it was in 2001?

The most recent National Intelligence Estimate (NIE), parts of which were recently released, makes it clear that al-Qaeda is stronger and more organized now than it was in September of 2001.

Today the Washington Post reported Intelligence Report Warns of al-Qaeda's Capabilities, and The New York Times headlined its article, Bush Aides See Failure in Fight with Al Qaeda in Pakistan.

Alarming news. But WHY is al-Qaeda stronger and a greater threat to the US after almost six years of Bush’s “global war on terrorism”?

This morning, I listened to Michael Krasny’s (photo) hour-long Forum program on public radio, Intelligence Update, and now I know why al-Qaeda is still a threat. I highly recommend that you either listen to (RealMedia Stream) or download (MP3) the program to listen to later.

The guests were:

Bruce Riedel, former CIA agent and senior fellow at the Saban Center for Middle East studies at the Brookings Institution.

Fawaz Gerges, Christian A. Johnson chair-holder in International Affairs and Middle Eastern Studies at Sarah Lawrence College and visiting professor at the American University in Cairo.

Melvin Goodman, former CIA agent and senior fellow at the Center for International Policy

Peter Bergen, Schwartz senior fellow at the New America Foundation, CNN's terrorism analyst and author of "Holy War, Inc.: Inside the Secret World of Bin Laden."

(photo of Michael Krasny - from the KQED website)