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The report is a stark contradiction to Bush's tireless claims that the Iraq war has made the world a safer place. |
CAIRO — The US-led war on Iraq has played a more direct role in increasing terrorist attacks and creating a new class of "self-generating" terrorists who are united by an anti-Western agenda, according to a comprehensive National Intelligence report, the first of its kind since the start of US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003.
"The Iraq war has made the overall terrorism problem worse," the report, titled "Trends in Global Terrorism: Implications for the United States," said, The New York Times reported, citing several US officials involved in preparing the estimate or who have read the final document.
The 30-page classified report warns that people who fought in Iraq could return to their home countries, "exacerbating domestic conflicts or fomenting radical ideologies."
It concludes that, rather than contributing to eventual victory in the US-led global counterterrorism effort, the situation in Iraq has worsened the US position.
"It's a very candid assessment," one intelligence official told The Washington Post. "It's stating the obvious."
The intelligence estimate 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 US 16 disparate spy services.
National Intelligence Estimates are the most authoritative documents that the intelligence community produces on a specific national security issue.
Bush invaded Iraq in March 2003 on the grounds that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction.
A recent US presidential report revealed that the United States was "dead wrong" on Iraq’s alleged WMDs and its officials made the case for invading the oil-rich country despite intelligence doubts and strong voices of dissent.
Former US Secretary of State Colin Powell regretted his UN statement making the case for the US-led Iraq invasion, saying it was a "blot" on his record.
Decentralized
The report states that the Iraq war has become the leading inspiration for new terror cells that have no connection to any central structure and arose independently.
It concludes that the new class of “self-generating” cells are driven by an anti-Western agenda and inspired by Al-Qaeda’s leadership but without any direct connection to Osama bin Laden or his top lieutenants.
It said the Internet has become a haven for terrorists who no longer have geographical refuges.
"It is just those kinetic actions that lead to the radicalization of others," a senior counterterrorism official was quoted as saying by the Post.
"Surgical strikes? Nothing is surgical about military operations. They tend to have impacts, affects."
The relationship between the Iraq war and terrorism, and the question of whether the United States is safer, have been subjects of persistent debate since the war began in 2003.
Intelligence officials have said the White House has consistently presented a more optimistic picture of the situation in Iraq than justified by intelligence reports from the field.
The British parliament's influential Foreign Affairs Committee reported in July 2 that international conflicts, such as the situation in Iraq and the occupied Palestinian territories, breed feelings of injustice in the Muslim world which can boost support for terrorism.
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