The Unknown Candidate: Iraq “Cause Célèbre” for Islamic Militants

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Iraq “Cause Célèbre” for Islamic Militants

Newly declassified portions of the most recent National Intelligence Estimate released this afternoon confirm the intelligence community's original assertion that Iraq has created more terrorists and made us less -- not more secure. In other words, Bush's policies have accomplished the exact opposite of what was intended.

According to the report, the Iraq war has "become the ‘cause célèbre’ for jihadists, breeding a deep resentment of U.S. involvement in the Muslim world and cultivating supporters for the global jihadist movement.” Further, it found that "the underlying factors fueling the spread of the [jihadist] movement outweigh its vulnerabilities and are likely to do so for the duration of the time frame of this Estimate.”

The time frame? Approximately five years, according to Frances Fragos Townsend, White House adviser on homeland security.

The New York Times highlights four factors cited by the report that fuel "the spread of Islamic militancy:

entrenched grievances and a sense of powerlessness
the Iraq 'jihad'
the slow pace of reform in Muslim nations
and 'pervasive anti-U.S. sentiment among most Muslims.'"

In conclusion, despite King George's assertions to the contrary, the war in Iraq and the policies that led to it have been utterly and completely counterproductive.

Bush was asleep at the wheel and did nothing to avert terrorism in the first eight months of his Presidency. He was asleep at the wheel when we were attacked on 9/11 and sat in a school room doing nothing while the nation was under attack. He went after the "perpetrators" of 9/11 in Afghanistan and failed to get Osama bin Laden, because he was more concerned with attacking Iraq, a country which bore zero responsibility for 9/11 and had no ties to terrorists.

If fighting terrorism is the goal -- as purported by this administration ad nauseam for the last 5 years -- then they have clearly failed. Yet the message from the King's Castle is the same: "stay the course."

One would have to have more than one screw loose to buy into that advise. This cabal has misled us with their lies and incompetence more often than most people brush their teeth. Enough!!

Impeach, people, impeach.