Sept. 24, 2006

Report: Iraq War Made Terror 'Worse'

Terrorism Has Spread Since U.S. Invasion, National Intelligence Estimate Finds

  • Play CBS Video Video Deadly Attack In Baghdad

    A Sunni bomb attack claimed the lives of at least 37 Shiites in Baghdad, marking a bloody start to the first day of Ramadan. Lara Logan has more details.

  • Video The Detainee Agreement

    Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., discusses the detainee agreement and the troop levels in Iraq.

  • Video Rice: Iraq Will Take Time

    In an interview with Katie Couric, Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice says ending the violence in Iraq will take time. You can see the full length interview Sunday on "60 Minutes."

    • Photo

       (AP / CBS)

    • U.S. military helicopters hover above the site where a car bomb exploded in Baghdad Sept. 24, 2006. Six people, including four policemen, were killed in a car bomb attack against their patrol near the capital's main morgue. Photo

      U.S. military helicopters hover above the site where a car bomb exploded in Baghdad Sept. 24, 2006. Six people, including four policemen, were killed in a car bomb attack against their patrol near the capital's main morgue.  (AFP/Getty Images)

    • Iraqis gather at the site where a car bomb exploded in Baghdad 24 September 2006. A civilian was killed and 14 others wounded, including four policemen when a car bomb blew up in central Baghdad's Karrada district. Photo

      Iraqis gather at the site where a car bomb exploded in Baghdad 24 September 2006. A civilian was killed and 14 others wounded, including four policemen when a car bomb blew up in central Baghdad's Karrada district.  (AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images)

    • Iraqi civilians inspect the site of a bomb explosion in Baghdad's poor neighborhood of Sadr City Sept. 23, 2006. Photo

      Iraqi civilians inspect the site of a bomb explosion in Baghdad's poor neighborhood of Sadr City Sept. 23, 2006.  (AFP/Getty Images)

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  • Who's Who Iraq Insurgency

    More on the militant groups behind the insurgency in Iraq and their motivations.

  • Interactive Iraq: 4 Years Later

    The conflict wears on as the nation struggles to rebuild.

  • Interactive Religion In Iraq

    An interactive guide to Iraq's religious, ethnic and ideological mix.

(CBS/AP)  The U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq has increased the number of terrorist groups worldwide and "made the overall terrorism problem worse," a U.S. intelligence official said in a secret study.

The assessment of the war's impact on terrorism came in a National Intelligence Estimate that represents a consensus view of the 16 disparate spy services inside government, CBS News learned Sunday.

CBS News senior White House correspondent Bill Plante reports that the intelligence report contained some broad conclusions:

  • The U.S. presence in Iraq is providing new recruits for militant Islam.

  • The movement has spread and is now "self-generating."

  • While inspired by al Qaeda, the radical movement is no longer directly tied to Osama bin Laden.

  • Because of the Internet, the radical Islamist movement is more connected and no longer isolated.

    The details of the Intelligence Estimate were first published in Sunday's New York Times and Washington Post.

    Three leading Republicans — Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee, Sen. John McCain of Arizona and Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky — defended the war in Iraq and said it is vital that U.S. troops stay in the fight.

    On CBS's Face The Nation, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. spoke cautiously of the report, saying that while he knew nothing about it, "it's obvious that the difficulties we've experienced in Iraq have certainly emboldened (terrorists) — lack of success always does that."

    McCain, a likely candidate for president in 2008, agress with President Bush that the United States needs to stay and prevail in Iraq. "If we fail, then our problems will be much more complicated," he said.

    Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn. said he had not seen the classified report, which was completed in April, but said Americans understand the United States must continue to fight terrorists in Iraq and elsewhere.

    "Either we are going to be fighting this battle, this war overseas, or it's going to be right here in this country," Frist said on ABC's "This Week," echoing an argument that President Bush frequently makes.

    "Attacks here at home stopped when we started fighting al Qaeda where they live, rather than responding after they hit," McConnell said in a statement.

    Democrats seized on an intelligence assessment that said the Iraq war has increased the terrorist threat, saying it was further evidence that Americans should choose new leadership in the November midterm elections.

    Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., said in a statement that the assessment "should put the final nail in the coffin for President Bush's phony argument about the Iraq war."

    "How many more independent reports, how many more deaths, how much deeper into civil war will Iraq need to fall for the White House to wake up and change its strategy in Iraq?"

    "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," said Rep. Rahm Emanuel, head of the Democratic effort to take control of the House of Representatives in the upcoming national election.

    "It's time for a new direction in this country," Emanuel, an Illinois Democrat, said in the statement.

    "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," said Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid. "No election-year White House PR campaign can hide this truth."

    A White House spokesman, Blair Jones, said "We don't comment on classified documents" and that the published accounts' "characterization of the NIE is not representative of the complete document."

    The White House issued a written rebuttal that argued administration officials have been making some of the same arguments as in the intelligence estimate. A White House strategy booklet released this month described the terrorists as more dispersed and less centralized and still a threat to the United States.

    Bush himself said on Sept. 5 that the "terrorist danger remains" and the broader terrorist movement is becoming more spread out and self-directed. He also quoted Osama bin Laden describing Iraq as the central battlefield in the fight against terrorism.

    The president has said the United States is safer since the Sept. 11 attacks and that fighting the terrorists in Iraq keeps them from attacking America.
    In other developments:

  • Senior Arab officials have revealed to CBS News that al Qaeda has scaled down its leadership structure in Afghanistan and is poised to shift its main decision making to somewhere in the Middle East, possibly Iraq. "Iraq we know is right now the biggest battleground for such people and I have heard enough on the subject of Iraq working as a magnet for militant groups to go along with the view that some may be heading to Iraq," said one diplomat who also spoke on the condition of anonymity.

  • Two U.S. Marines with Regimental Combat Team 5, died in fighting in Anbar province west of Baghdad, the military said without releasing any further details. U.S. military authorities reported the deaths of three American soldiers on Saturday.

  • At least 22 people were killed and double that number injured Sunday in scattered violence around Iraq, including a mortar attack on the Health Ministry followed by a car bombing targeting a police patrol.

  • Saddam Hussein's chief lawyer said Sunday the defense team will boycott his genocide trial "indefinitely" because of alleged violations by the Iraqi court trying him. "The court committed several violations of the law and we will not just sit there gagged to give it legitimacy," said Khalil al-Dulaimi, who heads the nine-member defense team for the deposed Iraqi leader.

  • Baghdad police on Sunday raised the confirmed casualty toll in the deadly bombing of a kerosene truck on a crowded street Saturday to 38 killed and 42 injured. A Sunni group claiming responsibility for the attack in Baghdad's Sadr City, a sprawling Shiite slum, said it was in revenge for a Friday attack by a suspected Shiite death squad on Sunni Arab homes and mosques that killed four people in the capital.

  • Iraq's fractious ethnic and religious parliamentary groups agreed Sunday to open debate on a contentious Shiite-proposed draft legislation that will allow the creation of federal regions in Iraq, politicians from all groups said. The agreement came after a compromise was reached with Sunni Arabs on setting up a parliamentary committee to amend Iraq's constitution, a key demand by the minority.

  • An al Qaeda-linked group posted a Web video Saturday purporting to show the bodies of two American soldiers being dragged behind a truck, then set on fire in apparent retaliation for the rape-slaying of a young Iraqi woman by U.S. troops from the same unit.

    Continued



    ©MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

    Video and Galleries from Iraq After Saddam

    Add a Comment See all 105 Comments
    by drgoodwin12 September 24, 2006 7:36 AM PDT
    All of these successful arrest and murders of suppossedly high ranking Al Queda have not diminished the violence.If you read the story carefully 26 Iraqis were killed today(so far today in Iraq is not over yet)and has wounded 40.This is what is being reported so it really does not give a complete picture of Iraq as a whole.It is limited to areas where journalist,military and police can safely go.It further states that"A classified assessment of global terror by U.S. intelligence agencies found that the invasion and occupation of Iraq has contributed to the birth of a new generation of Islamic radicalism and that terror is on the rise since the attacks of 9/11, the New York Times reported on its Web site Saturday."This quagmire has to come to an end.We have to blunt with the Iraqi goverment and actually investigate which members of the Iraqi military,goverment and police are working with the insurgents,militias and terrorist.They thanks to G.W.Bush have created the civil war and will continue it until we get tough with them and their ties to the various groups creating the havoc.With the U.S intelligence report it also shows that G.W.Bush and his cronies do not have a clue on how to fight terrorism
    Reply to this comment
    by angryliberal-2009 September 24, 2006 8:38 AM PDT
    Im a liberal, but how does this make the threat worse if we have had no attack since 911? And why is cbs the only news agency showing this story
    Reply to this comment
    by shutupmurtha September 24, 2006 8:41 AM PDT
    Im glad al Qaeda is doing their part to abide by the Geneva Convention?
    Reply to this comment
    by patriotic9 September 24, 2006 9:23 AM PDT
    Can somebody please tell me what sense did it make to send just few thousands troops to Afghanistan where Usama Bin Laden was at that time and to send hundreds of thousand troops to Iraq which had nothing to do with 9/11.The only reason for this non sense is that according to the RADICAL,NON-SENSE,BACKWARD Conservatives,Afghanistan is not significant for the second coming of Christ.These Neo-cons don't care at all about the constitution of United States which forbids the involvement of religion into politics by separating church from state,nor about the people of USA who according to their RACIST ,NON-SENSE ANTI-HUMAN IDEOLOGY are GOD NEGLECTED PEOPLE because of not being born in a race choosen by GOD,nor they care about the country of USA,whcih they don't consider as HOLY LAND.
    Reply to this comment
    by grazinggoat September 24, 2006 9:51 AM PDT
    Why is this a classified document? THIS DOCUMENT SHOULD BE RELEASED TO LARGE PUBLIC.
    Is it that the actual administration is trying to hide the truth to its population?
    Not surprising a bit actually 'cause G Walking-Liar Bush has always lied not only to the Americans, but to the whole population of the world.

    THIS IS THE PROOF THAT THIS ADMINISTRATION HAS FAILED, IS FAILING, AND WILL ALWAYS FAIL AS LONG AS THE US POPULATION IS NOT TOLD THE TRUTH, AS LONG AS THE CAUSE WE ENGAGE IN IS NOT JUST. AND OBVIOUSLY THE WHOLE SH*T-STIRRING IN THE MIDDLE EAST IS NOT A JUST CAUSE. GW-L BUSH IS FIGHTING FREEDOM SEEKERS THOSE WHO ARE READY TO GIVE THEIR SOUL FOR THE CAUSE THEY BELIEVE IN. IN A DIFFERENT WAY THEN THAT USA CITIZENS ARE FIGHTING FOR.

    The only way to come to an agreement is to sit down with them, talk to them and try to find a common solution for everybody.

    Happy birthday...
    Reply to this comment
    by patriotic9 September 24, 2006 9:58 AM PDT
    It seems like nobody has answer to my question which is a very clear evident proof of the fact that all the problems we face today,including terrorism,9/11 and hatred against US and it's people is the result of the RADICAL,BACKWARD,NON-SENSE,RACIST and UNJSUT CHRISTIANITY,which considers Americans as GOD NEGLECTED and the EUROPEAN INVADERS IN PALESTINE who don't live in US,don't pay tax to our govt.,cause HATRED,TERRORSIM and 9/11 against us,as GOD CHOOSEN.This RACIST and UNJUST CHRISTIANITY ask us to pay the price for the GOD CHOOSEN EUROPEANS by our GOD NEGLECTED AMERICAN MONEY and GOD-NEGLECTED AMERICAN LIVES.For how long should our soldiers keep on getting killed in Iraq for this RACIST,UNJUST,ANTI-AMERICAN IDEOLOGY.
    Reply to this comment
    by l3anyan September 24, 2006 10:09 AM PDT
    It will be a breath of fresh air when we move on and accept the fact that we are there and made a mess... which we need to deal with and fix (not pick up and leave). The sooner the media stops with all the BS opinion pieces the better.
    Reply to this comment
    by patriotic9 September 24, 2006 10:37 AM PDT
    I3anyon
    The sooner the media stops with all the BS opinion the better.
    I feel so sorry about those enemies of USA who don't believe in the constitution which gives freedom of press and freedom of speech.The whole point is that why we are there?why we made a mess? and how to deal with it and fix it.We are there because of those enemies of USA who want to take oil in cheaper prices from Arabs and then support and protect their those enemies who were brought in their land after WWII to occupy it by force,all this is done because of the RACIST,UNJUST,BACKWARD and NON-SENSE CHRISTIAN IDEOLOGY which considers us Americans as GOD NEGLECTED and the EUROPEAN INVADERS IN PALESTINE as GOD CHOON.We can't deal with it and fix it whether we denounce involvement of RACIST and UNJUST CHRISTIANITY into polictics which doesn't treat people according to their actions but but treat them according to the race they belong to.IF we don't denounce the UNJUST and RACIST existance of ISRAL,nobody will ever trust us in the MIDDLE EAST and we'll be keep on suffering.
    Reply to this comment
    by exusmcsgt September 24, 2006 10:39 AM PDT
    As I have stated before, terrroism cannot be defeated by a conventional standing army. The Phillipines and Colombia have both been following that failed strategy for over 40 years without success.

    Social and political problems will never be solved through military might. Those who believe they can demonstrate a complete lack of military limitations and uses.
    Reply to this comment
    by exusmcsgt September 24, 2006 10:49 AM PDT
    ...make that a complete lack of understanding of military limitations and uses.
    Reply to this comment
    by exusmcsgt September 24, 2006 10:57 AM PDT
    stopneofatbs-

    Your call for an expulsion of hate mongers is downright hilarious. You would appear to be one of the first to be in need of a new home.....




    Reply to this comment
    by patriotic9 September 24, 2006 11:01 AM PDT
    Terrorism can only be defeated by stoping animosity agianst the USA,it's people and it's constitution which forbids the involvement of religion into politics by separating church from state.As long as the enemies of USA continue to make the US foreing policies on the basis of RADICAL,RACIST AND UNJUST christiain ideology which asks the GOD NEGLECTED AMERICANS to work day and night to pay tax to our government and the GOD CHOOSEN EUROPEAN INVADERS IN PALESTINE to snatch more then 3B$ from our tax payed money for the killing of those innocent people who give us oil in cheaper prices,we can't stop terrorism against us.It is the responsibilty of every loyal American to raise his voice against this INJUSTICE,RACISM and ANIMOSITY against the people of United States by not promissing a single penny for them because of their race and promising a land in the Middle East for the EUROPEAN INVADERS IN PALESTINE because of they race they bron in.
    Reply to this comment
    by joehawkinson September 24, 2006 11:02 AM PDT
    Couple of words to the REAL Neo-Fascist. namely NEO-CONS are Likudnic **holes. read the title again of this report however you want to spin this it aint working. Iraq war made the terror worse and your moronic excuses about spreading "?democracy?" dont cut it anymore. There is another world where all of you and your brain-dead mentor Rush Limbaugh do not want to see
    Reply to this comment
    by ralphj53 September 24, 2006 11:07 AM PDT
    September 24, 2006

    Hello;

    I always thought that in DEPOSING Saddam Hussein, killing his two sons, installing a self determining Government in IRAQ, our job was done.

    Besides..... we NEVER found Weapons of Mass Destruction there.... our VERY reason we are THERE in the first place.

    So what are we STILL doing there? The SHIITES are SETTLING scores because of the years of OPPRESSION under Saddam Hussein, and this is going "*** for tat" meaning there are death squads on BOTH sides.

    And our stay in IRAQ IS BEING mis-interpreted as wanting to CONTROL Iraq's Oil for our own benefit. Hence the OCCUPATION. Bush has already said that AMERICA is ADDICTED to OIL, and they were listening.

    And so, how much clear is this going to be?

    We are LOSING good American boys over there. And the COST of the war is UNACCEPTABLE in the language of ANY country.

    In VIETNAM we also there because of the DOMINO theory. That didn't HAPPEN. In the case of IRAQ that will also happen. I don't think IRAN will anxiously take our place once we leave, contrary to popular opinion. THEY also don't want to get blown up. Besides, this takes MONEY and natural RESOURCES which IRAN will not involve itself in.

    So, what are doing over there?.... The solution? THE POLLS in November!!

    Hey... AMERICA!!! are you listening?
    Thanks,
    ralphj53

    Reply to this comment
    by joehawkinson September 24, 2006 11:10 AM PDT
    "stopneofatbs" how much full of s**t you are. everythign you say is baseless anyways. you Bush worshipping right wing clown, get your facts straight. what you said about Black Jack Pershing and Phillphines and the story about pork fat and muslims etc is an URBAN LEGEND. only you and morons like you try to build an argument using lias and urban legends. read here about your URBAN LEGEND and wake up from your slumber. http://www.snopes.com/rumors/pershing.htm
    Reply to this comment
    by patriotic9 September 24, 2006 11:14 AM PDT
    stopneofatbs
    You called me unpatriotic 9 without any intellectual reason to prove that.If you are patriotic you'll be loyal to USA,it's people and it's constitution which forbids involvement of religion into politics by separating church from state.You wo'd make USA forieng policies on the basis of those RADICAL,RACIST and UNJUST CHRISTIAN belive which shows it's animosity against USA and its people by coinsidering Americans as GOD NEGLECTED and the EUROPEAN INVADERS IN PALESTINE.If you have just a little bit of intellect left,your brain is not completely damaged by alcohal as is the case with your republican Idol,Just expalin to me
    SHOULD WE SUPPORT THE ILLEGITIAMTE AND UNJUSTIFIED EXISTANCE OF ISRAEL ON THE COST OF AMERICAN MONEY AND AMERICAN LIVES BECAUSE AMERICANS ARE GOD NEGLECTED AND THE EUROPEAN INVADERS IN PALESTINE ARE GOD CHOOSEN?IF WE SHOULD WHY?please don't give your answer from any religious text as I am a PATRIOTIC,LOYAL CITIZEN who firmly believes in the constitution and can't tolerate any attempt to consider my fellow citizens as GOD NEGLECTED.
    Reply to this comment
    by drgoodwin12 September 24, 2006 11:17 AM PDT
    For those who are questioning why CBS is the only one running this story,well here is the link to the other major news network and story.http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=2483378 .CNN is not covering it ,they have become like FOX news.
    Reply to this comment
    by exusmcsgt September 24, 2006 11:18 AM PDT
    We obviously have no shortage of individuals on this planet who would rather blow up those who view the world through a different prism than they as opposed to seeking a world where all can peacefully coexist.

    Extremist Christians, Jews, and Muslims are all equally myopic and dangerous, in my opinion.
    Reply to this comment
    by joehawkinson September 24, 2006 11:20 AM PDT
    stopneofatbs,
    Well you just said it. YOU could not answer what I said and you'r trying to brush me off.

    when you corner these right wing nutcases all of a sudden they become "the gentleman". ADMIT IT YOU HAVE NO ANSWERS or FACTS and all you do is RANT and BARK. You do not even deserve this language. I never did drugs in my life, where was your manners when you were cursing me and accusing me of being a dope. Hypocrite ***HOLE.
    Reply to this comment
    by exusmcsgt September 24, 2006 11:22 AM PDT
    Those who resort to personal insult rather than logical debate usually have little of value to say.

    Reply to this comment
    by joehawkinson September 24, 2006 11:25 AM PDT
    exactly right,
    when I exposed "stopneofatbs" lias and urban legends he changed the subject and made it personal. these people listen too much of Limbaugh's cr*p and this is what they turn out to be.
    Reply to this comment
    by patriotic9 September 24, 2006 11:27 AM PDT
    stopneofatbs
    Why don't you give a single reason to prove what you are saying is right.I asked you a very simple question
    WHY SHOULD THE PEOPLE OF UNITED STATES BE CONSIDERED AS GOD NEGLECETED AND WHY THOSE EUROPEAN INVADERS IN PALETINE WHO DON'T LIVE IN USA,DON'T PAY TAX,CAUSE HATRED,TERRORISM AND9/11 AGAINST THE PEOPLE OF UNITED STATES CONSIDERED AS GOD CHOOSEN AND CLIAM THEIR RIGHT ON OUR TAX MONEY?
    WHAT BENIFITS DO THE PEOPLE OF USA ENJOY BY SUPPORTING THE EUROPEAN INVADERS IN PALESTINE?
    Offcoarse you won't answer and care about the second question if you don't care about the people of USA as they are GOD NEGLECTED according to your RADICAL,RACIST and UNJUST IDEOLOGY.
    Reply to this comment
    by joehawkinson September 24, 2006 11:30 AM PDT
    hey someone tells me this stopneofatbs
    is no Christian :) hey stopneofatbs, which chruch do you attend to ?. I think I am entitled to ask after all youare a Christian demagogue, arent you?
    Reply to this comment
    by exusmcsgt September 24, 2006 11:31 AM PDT
    The core issue here is whether we improve or damage ourselves overall with the invasion of Iraq. If you listen to Bush and his cadre (who have political motives behind their statements), a half a trillion dollars and 3,000 American dead are justified based on a gain in the "War on Terror".

    Our own intelligence agencies (who have no political motives) state that the opposite is true. Who is to be believed?

    Personally, I will take the facts over political ideology anytime.
    Reply to this comment
    by joehawkinson September 24, 2006 11:35 AM PDT
    exusmcsgt

    I second what you just said.

    real issue is: OUR OWN INTELLIGENCE NOW SAYS IRAQ WAR MADE THE SITUATION WORSE AND MADE US MORE SUSPECTIBLE TO TERROR. WHATEVER THE RIGHT WING NUTCASES CLAIMED ALL ALONG IS REFUTED RIGHT ON THE SPOT.
    Reply to this comment
    by exusmcsgt September 24, 2006 11:39 AM PDT
    Unfortunately joehawkinson, we are surrounded by those who seem to operate from a "don't confuse me with the facts" perspective. If the facts don't fit their perspective, the facts are wrong.

    When religious extremism be it Christian, Jew, or Muslim, takes the wheel, logic and understanding are relegated to the back seat.....
    Reply to this comment
    by exusmcsgt September 24, 2006 11:45 AM PDT
    stopneofatbs-

    Your casting my position as "cut and run" is not quite correct. The first thing a Marine is taught is not to engage if you are doomed to loose. Obviously, GWB didn't make enough weekend drills to have learned that basic military strategy.

    It would appear to me that you would be happy if we were still sending our warriors to die in Viet Nam's rice paddies. Obviously, 55,000 wasted lives were not enough for you, Sir.
    Reply to this comment
    by exusmcsgt September 24, 2006 11:48 AM PDT
    $500,000,000,000.00 and 3,000 dead without anything to show for it are facts as well,stopneofatbs.
    Reply to this comment
    by joehawkinson September 24, 2006 11:53 AM PDT
    OK now it makes sense, stopneofatbs reads a lot of Daniel Pipe(who is one of the most evil human beings alive). Who reads him a lot? I will not answer the question. you fill that in.

    However why do you quote books as your reference or proof to your claims. Who cares about who wrote what. I thought governments were run on credible intelligence, not books some nutcase pulled out of his backside.
    Reply to this comment
    by exusmcsgt September 24, 2006 11:55 AM PDT
    stopneofatbs-

    You obviously were not in Viet Nam, Sir - I was. Bombing Hanoi would not have won the war. We could never have dropped enough bombs, even though we tried, to stop supplies coming down the Ho Chi Minh trail, which is what was strategically necessary to have won that war.
    Reply to this comment
    by joehawkinson September 24, 2006 12:02 PM PDT
    Hey stopnofatbs you say "They are NOT like us, and you'd better realize that soon enough." and pardon me but who are you? where do you live and what is your religion? since you are into religions right?
    Reply to this comment
    by exusmcsgt September 24, 2006 12:02 PM PDT
    stopneofatbs-

    As I stated earlier, the Phillipines and Colombia have been trying to defeat terrorism for 40 years without succes using your recommended strategy of standing army tactics. I believe that 4 decades without success attest to the fallacy of said approach.
    Reply to this comment
    by joehawkinson September 24, 2006 12:07 PM PDT
    enough with this cra*, this guy never answers any questions. watching TV sounds a better idea right now, let me watch how many of our soldiers and Iraqis were killed today. thanks to Bush&Co. bye bye stopneofatbs , I dont wish you well. :)
    Reply to this comment
    by exusmcsgt September 24, 2006 12:08 PM PDT
    stopneofatbs-

    Anyone who thinks that dropping an atomic weapon on a civilian population is not terrorism while arguing that flying aircraft into civilian targets is has a perspective that I can not even begin to fathom.
    Reply to this comment
    by exusmcsgt September 24, 2006 12:12 PM PDT
    In addition stopneofatbs,

    You define the success of standing army tactics againt terrorists in terms of the terrorists not winning. Success is measured by the success of standing army tactics against terrorists in defeating terrorists which has not occurred in either case.

    You obviously fail to understand the strategic nature of terrorism's task: that is, to fight another day. They do not need to defeat a standing army to succeed. They just need to be able to fight again tomorrow.
    Reply to this comment
    by exusmcsgt September 24, 2006 12:19 PM PDT
    stopneofatbs, you obviously feel empowered to tell one who was there how it really was even though you were not there yourself. I will not spend any more time attempting to defend reality to you, sir....it is obviously a concept that escapes you.

    You elect to see things as you choose as opposed to how they really are....this is akin to arguing with a drunk.
    Reply to this comment
    by exusmcsgt September 24, 2006 12:23 PM PDT
    Make apologies for not supporting $500,000,000,000.00 and 3,000 dead with nothing to show for it. Are you kidding?
    Reply to this comment
    by exusmcsgt September 24, 2006 12:31 PM PDT
    Unfortunately stopneofatbs, your hero GWB has put us halfway into a swmp and left us with a choice between one of two alternatives. Continue to waste American treasure and lives in a doomed enterprise or not.

    Either way, his stupidity has placed us here. At this point, the best we can do is insist that the Iraqi government do its part or we go. If they refuse to do it for themselves, we will never be able to do it for them regardless of how much treasure or how many warriors we waste on the endeavor.
    Reply to this comment
    by exusmcsgt September 24, 2006 12:33 PM PDT
    And I'll ask you this stopneofatbs: If you have children, would you be willing to sacrifice them in a failed endeavor?

    If not, you have no right to expect others to do so.
    Reply to this comment
    by patriotic9 September 24, 2006 12:34 PM PDT
    All the human beings living in this world are GOD NEGLECTED PEOPLE because of not being born in a race choosen by GOD and that's why they have not been promised a single penny from GOD,whereas those EUROPEANS who were brought into Palestine after WWII are GOD CHOOSEN and have been promised a land in the Middle East.Human beings should not be treated on the basis of their actions but should be treated on the basis of the family they are born in or the race they belong to.This Ideology is called RACISM and INJUSTICE.
    I am so surprised to know that those people who against RACISM and INJUSTICE,the enemies of United States consider them as NEO-NAZI.If I am a NEO NAZI because I believe that all human beings have been created equal.People are not GOD CHOOSEN or GOD NEGLECTED because of the race they belong to but are good or bad on the basis of their action,then the worst NEO NAZI was Sir Thomas Jafferson.
    Reply to this comment
    by exusmcsgt September 24, 2006 12:37 PM PDT
    In regards to your list of "successes" in Afghanistan and Iraq stopneofatbs, you fail to acknowledge that Kharzai's government only controls Khabul after 5 years of our efforts with heroin production reaching all time record production and that the Iraqi government doesn't even control Baghdad after 3 1/2 years of effort.
    Reply to this comment
    by patriotic9 September 24, 2006 12:45 PM PDT
    We need to understand that we cannot win this war unless we practice the constitution which forbids involvement of religion into politics by separating church from state,unless we start considering the intrest of the American people which is based on oil given to us by Arabs while making our internal and forieng policies.All these objectives cannot be met unless we openly deny the ILLEGITIMATE and UNJUSTIFIED EXISTANCE OF ISRAEL on the world map which is the main source of HATRED and TERRORISM against our nation.Unfortunately thsoe enemies of United States who consider Americans as GOD NEGLECTED and the EUROPEAN INVADERS IN PALESTINE as GOD CHOOSEN will not listen to what I said because they don't care about USA which is not a HOLY LAND and it's people who are not GOD CHOOSEN,and it's constitution which separates church from state.If we think we can win the war while being RACIST and UNJUST,we are not dreaming,we are hallucinating.
    Reply to this comment
    by exusmcsgt September 24, 2006 12:50 PM PDT
    Another question for you stopneofatbs, how much treasure, how many warrior's lives, and how many years are you willing to invest in GWB's debacle?

    $20 trillion dollars? 50,000 American dead? Another 30 years?

    What's a reasonable price for you, Sir? Obviously we haven't reached your ceiling yet.
    Reply to this comment
    by terminalman1-2009 September 24, 2006 12:55 PM PDT
    Hey CBS grow some BALLS and show something like this, if you dare!
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTMu99ooKcs
    Reply to this comment
    by fallngempire September 24, 2006 1:28 PM PDT
    Normally I don't quote TV shows in my responses here, but there is a quote from a certain show that fits here: "It must be obvious day at camp stupid."
    Reply to this comment
    by getcentered September 24, 2006 1:39 PM PDT
    One thing I KNOW is, I don't really know why G.W. Bush sent US service men and women to be killed and maimed in Iraq. We do have some smart people in our government, but they%u2019re not in the White House, that I know too.

    Most of the experts Bush and Chenney had at their disposal said going to Iraq is a mistake.

    DOE: "The tubes cannot be use for a centrifuge"
    CIA: "NO yellow cake connection"
    NSA: "no contact between Iraq and Al Qaeda"
    Pentagon: "Taking Iraq will be a long a hard fought guerrilla warfare exercise"

    Funny, I don't remember hearing much of this dissent in the run-up to "The GOP/Bush Iraq War".
    Why? I don't know, but I do know that Republicans were and are in power everywhere in our government.

    Message to Bush, Chenney, Rumsfeld, and all the rest of the White House fools:

    I put the blame solely in your hands for the cursory war in Iraq, which you and your sloppy administration led us into.

    I WANT FAMILY OF MINE TO COME HOME ALIVE FROM IRAQ. I NEVER WANT CURSORY LEADERS PUTTING MY FAMILIY IN HARMS WAY, WHEN I DON'T KNOW WHY OR FOR DISPUTED REASONS.

    Shame on Republicans for their lack of imagination, their poor performance as leaders and their willful ignorance when adapting policies that effect the lives of every American.

    We have to do everything in our power to remove these incompetent leaders from power.
    Americans need to vote with their minds and not their emotions so Congress can be made up of leaders that will do the same.
    Reply to this comment
    by drgoodwin12 September 24, 2006 1:41 PM PDT
    Has anyone here really read their bible,if they had they would realize that acceptance of Christ makes one a Jew. I do not say this to slander as a born again Christian I am accordng to the bible a Jew.What all of this has do with this report is nothing.Terrorism is on the rise because we don have a policy that deters recruitment,instead we have a policy that embellishes recruitment.The war in Iraq which I do not know how many times I will have to repeat this and the sources was in the planning stages 11 days into Bush first term(Source:AGAINST ALL ENEMIES and THE COST OF LOYALTY)both written by republicans and never rebuked.We as a nation have to bring the war to an end.We cannot cut and run but stay the course is not working.The Iraqi goverment,military and police (not all)are in cahoots with the militias,insurgents and terrorist.The attacks that all have planned out come with inside information.The question is as it should be how to address the situation.More U.S. military is not working,it is impossible to police a country the size of Texas with 140,000 soldiers.Texas has that many police officers and is not fighting a civil war.This is like Vietnam,you honestly do not know who is on your side.This like Vietnam should be a two pronged war,one militarily and the other deterring recruitment into these various enemy factions.If we can put together a sound,cohesive policy of deterrment then we can pullour troops out.
    Reply to this comment
    by cbslogin12 September 24, 2006 1:46 PM PDT
    The CBS article, Iraq War Made Terror Worse, is awful. I suggest everyone check out the Washington Post story at their website or the same story posted at MSNBC. Their superior article explains in detail how the war in Iraq has made the U.S. LESS safe.
    Reply to this comment
    by exusmcsgt September 24, 2006 2:01 PM PDT
    You are correct drgoodwin12, that and end to fomenting recruitment is the key. Unfortunately, for all of us, we have an administration that thinks deterring recruitment means continuing the crusades and killing every Muslim they come across.
    Reply to this comment
    by exusmcsgt September 24, 2006 2:03 PM PDT
    In addition, drgoodwin12, a little less Bible and a little more common sense would have kept us from stepping in this stinking pile of manure, in my opinion.
    Reply to this comment
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