WASHINGTON (AP) - A new threat assessment from U.S. counterterrorism analysts says that al-Qaida has used its safe haven along the Afghan-Pakistan border to restore its operating capabilities to a level unseen since the months before Sept. 11, 2001.
A counterterrorism official familiar with a five-page summary of the document - titled "Al-Qaida better positioned to strike the West" - called it a stark appraisal. The analysis will be part of a broader meeting at the White House on Thursday about an upcoming National Intelligence Estimate.
Good thing we finished the job in Afghanistan and preventing this from happening... oh wait... we went into Iraq instead. Well that was stupid. I had a "gut feeling" something like this might happen.
UPDATE. Just as I made that joke, ShirtOff responds to the media:
WASHINGTON, July 12 (Reuters) - U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said on Thursday the threat to the United States from al Qaeda has not returned to levels seen just before the Sept. 11 attacks nearly six years ago.
Chertoff played down media reports the militant network has regained strength and was now as great a threat as in the months before the Sept. 11 attacks on Washington and New York.
"I wouldn't put it at that level," he told ABC's "Good Morning America." "I do think we've accomplished an awful lot in dismantling their activities overseas and in building our own defenses. But I do think the level of intent on the part of the enemy remains very high."
Right, we've still accomplished something in all these years. We've provided an environment where a million Iraqis and thousands of troops can die everyday. We've also neglected a large part of the Afghanistan mission and allowed the terrorist organizations who've actually attacked us rebuild, but not big enough for 9/11, but big enough to worry... that the next big attack is coming, and then we'll see that Republicans have been wrong all along... oh wait-
No comments:
Post a Comment