From the Washington Post:
Iraq has replaced Afghanistan as the training ground for the next generation of "professionalized" terrorists, according to a report released yesterday by the National Intelligence Council, the CIA director’s think tank.
Iraq provides terrorists with "a training ground, a recruitment ground, the opportunity for enhancing technical skills," said David B. Low, the national intelligence officer for transnational threats. "There is even, under the best scenario, over time, the likelihood that some of the jihadists who are not killed there will, in a sense, go home, wherever home is, and will therefore disperse to various other countries."
Great. What better then to bring all the terrorists to us where we have a large military presence and are retraining an army in our mold? Much better then them coming after us in nightclubs in Germany, blowing up planes over Scotland, and crashing planes into buildings on our shores. If we keep them, for the most part, in Iraq, we can keep killing them and killing them, before they come after us on our soil. There have been no terrorist attacks on US property outside of the ME, specifically Iraq and Saudi Arabi, since 9/11. Why be the Scorpion, wandering around the deserts of Arizon looking for a meal, when we can be the Trapdoor Spider in Iraq, bringing our victims right to us?
Ms. Priest discuss’s there only being tenuous ties with Al Qaeda by Iraq prior to the war. She totally and completely ignores all the officially recognized ties to other groups, such as Hezzbolah and Hamas, who are terrorist groups, of course. There is no doubting those links. They are real, and existed. No longer will Saddam pay some kid’s family $25K to blow up women and children.
"The al-Qa’ida membership that was distinguished by having trained in Afghanistan will gradually dissipate, to be replaced in part by the dispersion of the experienced survivors of the conflict in Iraq," the report says.
Shall we sit back and let them just train in Afghanistan to come after us, being reactive rather then proactive? Ms. Priest doesn’t say. She seems to be throwing it at the wall to see if it will stick, this being the Washington Post and all. Our job will be to do our best to stop as much of state sponsered terrorism as possible. We will never fully stop terrorism: but, if we can cut of the support that the larger groups recieve from countries and money men, will will go a long way towards acheiving our goals. And, just so Ms. Priest doesn’t forget, terrorism is bad.
