Is war in Iraq boon to terror recruitment?

0 Comments | Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Sep 24, 2006 | by Karen DeYoung Washington Post

Both Bush and bin Laden now regularly describe the Iraq war as the "central front" of the global war, and both are depending on victory there to set the direction of future struggles far afield. Although intelligence officials believe bin Laden's ability to direct major terrorist operations has been greatly diminished, his status as the ideological leader of a global movement that appeals to disaffected Muslims has vastly increased.

The conclusions and tone of the NIE have been reflected in a number of public statements by senior intelligence officials this year. In a February speech at Georgetown University, Negroponte said, "My colleagues and I still view the global jihadist terrorist movement, which emerged from the Afghan-Soviet conflict in the 1980s but is today inspired and led by al-Qaida, as the pre-eminent threat to our citizens, homeland interests and friends."

In a sober and comprehensive address to an armed forces group in Texas in April, Gen. Michael Hayden, then-deputy to Negroponte and now CIA director, drew heavily from the NIE judgments. If current trends continued, Hayden said, "threats to the U.S. at home and abroad will become more diverse and that could lead to increasing attacks worldwide."

Before delivering the speech, an intelligence official said, Hayden spoke directly to the NIE authors, saying "I want to make these points" to a public audience.