Denne er vanskelig å komme utenom:

A stark assessment of terrorism trends by American intelligence agencies has found that the American invasion and occupation of Iraq has helped spawn a new generation of Islamic radicalism and that the overall terrorist threat has grown since the Sept. 11 attacks.
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The intelligence estimate, completed in April, is the first formal appraisal of global terrorism by United States intelligence agencies since the Iraq war began, and represents a consensus view of the 16 disparate spy services inside government. Titled «Trends in Global Terrorism: Implications for the United States,’’ it asserts that Islamic radicalism, rather than being in retreat, has metastasized and spread across the globe.

An opening section of the report, «Indicators of the Spread of the Global Jihadist Movement,» cites the Iraq war as a reason for the diffusion of jihad ideology.

The report «says that the Iraq war has made the overall terrorism problem worse,» said one American intelligence official.

More than a dozen United States government officials and outside experts were interviewed for this article, and all spoke only on condition of anonymity because they were discussing a classified intelligence document. The officials included employees of several government agencies, and both supporters and critics of the Bush administration. All of those interviewed had either seen the final version of the document or participated in the creation of earlier drafts. These officials discussed some of the document’s general conclusions but not details, which remain highly classified.

Tolkning:

1. Bush har ikke likt denne erkjennelsen og har pyntet på den.
2. Store deler av mediene er del av anti-Bush-fronten. De siterer nå rapporten som bevis på at de har hatt rett.
3. Vår tolkning: dette er bevis på at amerikanerne tør ta fatt i og konfrontere virkeligheten. Det er utgangspunktet for all riktig strategi. Det er en medisin man må svelge for å unngå det nederlaget mange åpent eller skjult håper på.

Ad tittelen: Sir Rupert Smith sa om Irak at Bush ved å angripe Irak hadde gjort to adskilte problemer til ett: Krigen mot terror var Afghanistan, Irak var noe annet. Nå smeltet de sammen til ett, og ble større.

Spy Agencies Say Iraq War Worsens Terror Threat