Webloggin » Bush Releases Parts of NIE Report on Terrorism

The latest declassified portion of the NIE is out and it paints a slightly different picture than you would have imagined after the NY Times used a small leaked paragraph to try and hang the war in Iraq on.

I wonder how long it will be before what the NY Times reports as “the most authoritative documents” on intelligence will be panned by the left.

Rather than painting the liberal depiction of losing the war on terror it points out that terrorist operations have been seriously disrupted. The result of our efforts is that terror organizations are less cohesive and more splintered.

United States-led counterterrorism efforts have seriously damaged the leadership of al-Qa’ida and disrupted its operations; however, we judge that al-Qa’ida will continue to pose the greatest threat to the Homeland and US interests abroad by a single terrorist organization. We also assess that the global jihadist movement—which includes al- Qa’ida, affiliated and independent terrorist groups, and emerging networks and cells—is spreading and adapting to counterterrorism efforts.

Does this sound like fear mongering to you or perhaps is it along the lines of something that the Bush administration has been saying all along? We still have plenty to worry about. You can’t simply pick and choose what parts you agree with as if the rest of the assessment doesn’t exist.

The NIE does mention Iraq as a “cause celbre” for the current trends in the war on terror. But what Democrats fail to point out is that they have created this attitude. Not only have they fostered a cut and run attitude but they have given the terrorists hope by opposing the President at every corner.

We assess that the Iraq jihad is shaping a new generation of terrorist leaders and operatives; perceived jihadist success there would inspire more fighters to continue the struggle elsewhere.

• The Iraq conflict has become the “cause celebre” for jihadists, breeding a deep resentment of US involvement in the Muslim world and cultivating supporters for the global jihadist movement. Should jihadists leaving Iraq perceive themselves, and be perceived, to have failed, we judge fewer fighters will be inspired to carry on the fight.

Using the specter of Vietnam as the springboard for all things Iraq has been one of the best gifts the terrorists could have asked for. They are not stupid and they have learned the art of propaganda perfectly as they use our own media such as the NY Times for such purposes.

Nonetheless you can’t simply throw your hands up in the air and claim defeat as the NIE clearly states. Rather than continue to oppose the war it would behoove Democrats to rally around it in an effort to win. But that will never happen.

Thus, outside the slim chance of rallying behind the effort to win the war in Iraq I would like the Democrats to explain to me one strategy that they have for defeating terrorism. (cue crickets).

All of the solutions presented in the NIE are not even remotely mentioned in the Democrat playbook. Everything from condemning terror and noting the prospect of oppression under shari.a law to helping spread democracy in the majority Muslim nations is alien to those whose solution usually amounts to blaming the United States and nothing more.

The unclassified section is 4 pages long and notes the Internet as one of the leading factors leading to the spread of radicalism.

Anti-US and anti-globalization sentiment is on the rise and fueling other radical ideologies. This could prompt some leftist, nationalist, or separatist groups to adopt terrorist methods to attack US interests. The radicalization process is occurring more quickly, more widely, and more anonymously in the Internet age, raising the likelihood of surprise attacks by unknown groups whose members and supporters may be difficult to pinpoint.

• We judge that groups of all stripes will increasingly use the Internet to communicate, propagandize, recruit, train, and obtain logistical and financial support.

One conspicuous mention in the NIE focuses on the capture of al-Zarqawi. It is assessed that the capture or killing of these leaders would help fracture the large groups into smaller ones. Unfortunately we haven’t done that in rapid succession as the NIE states we should. It is apparent that many will step up to take their places. This does counter the claims that Bush is giving up on getting Bin Laden as Hot Air notes.

All in all the assessment is not all doom and gloom. It is also a bit dated. The context that the NY Times leakers left out is typical of those who would rather undermine the government of the United States than win the war on terror.

You can read the whole document here.

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