 |
|
Register Domains
|
|
|
|
|
Namibian Towns
|
|
|
|
|
Languages
|
|
|
| | |
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Part of a classified intelligence report that says the war in Iraq has increased the terrorist threat against the United States has fueled calls by congressional Democrats for a new direction in the nation's war on terrorism.
U.S. intelligence and counterterrorism officials Sunday confirmed to CNN the contents of the leaked portion of the National Intelligence Estimate, which was first reported in the Sunday editions of The New York Times and The Washington Post.
Some intelligence officials have said as much in the past, but the newly revealed document is part of the government's first formal report on global trends in terrorism.
"Press reports say our nation's intelligence services have confirmed that President Bush's repeated missteps in Iraq and his stubborn refusal to change course have made America less safe," Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, said. "No election-year White House PR campaign can hide this truth."
The report confirms that the nation needs to take a new direction, said Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Illinois.
"Unfortunately this report is just confirmation that the Bush administration's stay-the-course approach to the Iraq war has not just made the war more difficult and more deadly for our troops, but has also made the war on terror more dangerous for every American," Emanuel said in a statement.
White House: Nothing new
But administration officials said that the document reveals nothing new and the leaked portion does not represent the entire document.
Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte, in a written statement Sunday, warned that any news report that includes "only a small handful of those judgments distorts the broad strategic framework the NIE is assessing -- in this case, trends in global terrorism."
And White House spokesman Blair Jones told the AP that the media's "characterization of the NIE is not representative of the complete document."
The NIE, which is put out by the National Intelligence Council, began in 2004 and concluded in April. It is the most comprehensive report on intelligence provided by the government.
Intelligence officials told CNN the report said the war and the insurgency are the main recruiting vehicles for new Islamic extremists.
The extremists communicate through various Islamic Web sites and share an ideology with al Qaeda, the officials said.
Key war supporter not surprised
Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, told CBS' "Face the Nation" that, while he knows nothing about the report, it would not be surprising if the Iraq war was a rallying point for terrorists.
"Frankly, it doesn't astound me that we would get an intelligence report that if we're not succeeding as well as we had hoped that that would encourage the enemy," McCain said.
McCain stressed the importance of the Iraq war, describing progress there as "two steps forward, one step back."
"I would argue that we need to prevail in Iraq and that, if we fail, then our problems will be much more complicated," McCain said.
Sen. Arlen Specter said he was "very concerned about the intelligence report" and that the war is "the focal point for inspiring more radical Islam fundamentalism."
"That's a problem that nobody seems to have an answer to," the Pennsylvania Republican said on CNN's "Late Edition."
| |
|
|
News Categories
|
|
|
|
|
Main Menu
|
|
|
|
|
Login
|
|
|
|
|
Online
|
|
|
|
|
Ads
|
|
|
| |
