U.S. Report: Al Qaeda Has Strengthened

Intel Reveals Al Qaeda's Rise Since 9/11; Homeland Security Chief Cites "Gut Feeling" About Attack

(CBS/AP) 
Kringen said he wouldn't attach a summer timeframe to the concern. In studying the threat, he said he begins with the premise that al Qaeda would consider attacking the U.S. a "home run hit" and that the easiest way to get into the United States would be through Europe.

The new threat assessment puts particular focus on Pakistan, as did Kringen.

"Sooner or later you have to quit permitting them to have a safe haven" along the Afghan-Pakistani border, he told the House committee. "At the end of the day, when we have had success, it is when you've been able to get them worried about who was informing on them, get them worried about who was coming after them."

Several European countries — among them Britain, Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands — are also highlighted in the threat assessment partly because they have arrangements with the Pakistani government that allow their citizens easier access to Pakistan than others, according to the counterterrorism official.

This is more troubling because all four are part of the U.S. visa waiver program, and their citizens can enter the United States without additional security scrutiny, the official said.

The Bush administration has repeatedly cited al Qaeda as a key justification for continuing the fight in Iraq.

"The number one enemy in Iraq is al Qaeda. Al Qaeda continues to be the chief organizer of mayhem within Iraq, the chief organization for killing innocent Iraqis," White House press secretary Tony Snow said Wednesday.

The findings could bolster the president's hand at a moment when support on Capitol Hill for the war is eroding and the administration is struggling to defend its decision for a military buildup in Iraq. A progress report that the White House is releasing to Congress this week is expected to indicate scant progress on the political and military benchmarks set for Iraq.

The threat assessment says that al Qaeda stepped up efforts to "improve its core operational capability" in late 2004 but did not succeed until December of 2006 after the Pakistani government signed a peace agreement with tribal leaders that effectively removed government military presence from the northwest frontier with Afghanistan.

The agreement allows Taliban and al Qaeda operatives to move across the border with impunity and establish and run training centers, the report says, according to the official.

It also says that al Qaeda is particularly interested in building up the numbers in its middle ranks, or operational positions, so there is not as great a lag in attacks when such people are killed.

"Being No. 3 in al Qaeda is a bad job. We regularly get to the No. 3 person," Tom Fingar, the top U.S. intelligence analyst, told the House panel.

The counterterror official said the report does not focus on Osama bin Laden, his whereabouts or his role in al Qaeda. Officials say the network has become more like a "family-oriented" mob organization with leadership roles in cells and other groups being handed from father to son, or cousin to uncle.

Yet bin Laden's whereabouts are still of great interest to intelligence agencies. Although he has not been heard from for some time, Kringen said officials believe he is still alive and living under the protection of tribal leaders in the border area.

Armed Services Committee members expressed frustration that more was not being done to get bin Laden and tamp down activity in the tribal areas. The senior intelligence analysts tried to portray the difficulty of operating in the area, despite a $25 million bounty on the head of bin Laden and his top deputy.

"They are in an environment that is more hostile to us than it is to al Qaeda," Fingar said.

[j-whitman]

didntinhale,,, This report came from our intelligence agencies not from the so-called liberal media --- How about you accounting for your words ??

[j-whitman]

Lars008,,,,,, Pay attention -- There are no fascist nazi terrorislam on this planet.

Watch the 1st hour of the movie "Schindler's List" Lars,,, you will see how close Bush has taken us into a fascist nazi terrorism state.

[ivandrago]

CNN monitors there comments section so the discourse is always civil, but there are not a lot of comment though.

[migrrl]

Do you people who are posting comments even read yourselves? Your embarrassing us in front of ourselves and other countries by posting such immature garbage. Not only does the hyperbole on this thread unintelligent it also sounds irate and irrational.

You ever wonder why we can't get anything accomplished in this country? I don't. Not when I see adults acting like children - both in the government and in the public sphere, like the comments posted in reply to this article.

Seriously, the attacks from the Right and the jabs from the Left start to get embarrassing after a while. You people can barely tolerate each other yet you actually wonder why Sunni and Shia people can't get along? I swear you people would be no different if given the opportunity to express your angst in a similar situation.

BTW - Clinton and Bush were both terrible Presidents. How do you wing-nuts like that? Thanks to those types of Presidents we have a deeply divided country of immature idiots who would rather argue than solve a problem.

One last point : if you people are so insightful and observant how come no one has noticed that the article has changed significantly since yesterday?

[lars008-2009]

name one fascist nazi terrorislam state that grants equal rights to non muslims???

[ioweign]

I remember when Cassius Clay (Mohammed Ali) was drafted and claimed CO status because of his religion.
Citing his Islamic faith, Ali refused to serve in the U.S. military during the war in Vietnam; his title was revoked and he was sentenced to five years in prison for draft evasion. (The U.S. Supreme Court reversed the conviction in 1971.)
He must be Islamic Missouri Synod. No pardons back then??

[wolf563]

All countries with nuclear materials should disclose what items and how many items are truly missing . CANADA just anounced over 150 NUCLEAR items missing . Put all the pieces togther and what do you think is going to happen ? They will give them back in one lump sum .

[Ed0719]

Whats the expitation date on blaming Bush?
Posted by didntinhale at 07:58 AM : Jul 12, 2007

I don't know, but your kind is still blaming Clinton after 7 years, so you would know better than I about expiration dates for blame. I'm sure Al Qaida thanks you for your support.

[smirk5]

The military is nearly busted. Either tons of chickenhawks have to join up or we need a draft. Come on Cons, put up or give up.

[jjp735i]

This story makes one wonder:

A) How good is the intelligence this time around?

B) Each time Bush's ratings are in the toilet, we receive Al Qaeda warnings with "no specific, credible threat of a new attack".

C) Bush flat out failed in the war on terrorism if Al Qaeda is getting stronger.

I vote C, but could be B.

[bluestardad]

WHY IS THIS?

BECAUSE WE DIVERTED OUR TROOPS TO IRAQ FOR A POLICY OF ISRAEL INSTEAD OF GOING AFTER OUR TRUE ENEMY IN AFGHANISTAN!

ANOTHER SWING AND A MISS BY THE CHIMP!

[radiob-2009]

(AP) Report on a growing dysfunctional group of individuals who post on the internet. Studies and fellow bloggers have seen a increase of bloggers which copy and paste. They assume many alias and recycle old alias yet constitute 3% of the bloggers. They have been found to be suffering from two illness one referred to in the New England Medical Journal as oxygen deprivation and the other as Bushadulation. Bloggers are warned not to engage these individuals as they could split into multiple personalitys and becoming increasing dysfunctional resulting in large masses of diahrea posted on the internet.

[grazinggoat]

IIIIIMMM BAAAACCCKKK !!!!!! =)
Posted by didntinhale at 07:30 AM : Jul 12, 2007

-Oahhh Nooooooooooo! ;)

[smirk5]

"WASHINGTON - Undercover federal agents were easily able to fool the Nuclear Regulatory Commission into providing them with a license to obtain radiological material that could be used to make a %u201Cdirty bomb,%u201D NBC News has learned."

[smirk5]

(CBS/AP) "U.S. intelligence analysts have concluded al Qaeda has rebuilt its operating capability to a level not seen since just before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, The Associated Press has learned."

(AP) "Detailed schematics of a military detainee holding facility in southern Iraq. Geographical surveys and aerial photographs of two military airfields outside Baghdad. Plans for a new fuel farm at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. The military calls it %u201Cneed-to-know%u201D information that would pose a direct threat to U.S. troops if it fell into the hands of terrorists. It's material so sensitive that officials refused to release the documents when asked. But it's already out there, posted carelessly to file servers by government agencies and contractors, accessible to anyone with an Internet connection."

"Bush give what one panel member called a "Churchillian" vision of "victory" in Iraq and defend the country's prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki. "A constitutional order is emerging," he said. Later that morning, around the same conference table, CIA Director Michael V. Hayden painted a starkly different picture for members of the study group. Hayden said "the inability of the government to govern seems irreversible," adding that he could not "point to any milestone or checkpoint where we can turn this thing around," according to written records of his briefing and the recollections of six participants."

[sleepyric]

WH sez: "let's try the SCARE EM' tactic again,,we haven't done it for awhile now.." If I was in government and knew that Al Qaeda had strengthened, why in the world would I publish that on the news wire unless I wanted to scare the public again? And please, don't give me that "keep the public informed" ***, you don't tell us anything else do you? Out of Iraq now! Let them concentrate on killing themselves!

[me2008-2009]

I think we should make George Bush and *** Cheney pay for this war themselves. The American People should file a civil lawsuit.

He lied to the American people about the reasons for going...he is liable for the failure of the war by hiring morons like Rumsfeld. This is a lawsuit culture, let's use it.

Think of all of the good this money could have been used for...what would people be saying about America had we turned around and help solve some of the worlds problems with it? Now everyone hates us, which is great for terrorism.

Lawsuit! Ka-ching!!!!!

[trillion1]

Impeachment of cheney and bush is the first step. Then the removal of rice, chertoff, gonzo and the rest of the incompatents.

[tuckerndfw]

tuckerndfw, you also have to add in that the U.S. military sucks at nation-building...and so does "w"...but he sucks in general. Good post otherwise.

Posted by MEBoard at 05:17 AM : Jul 12, 2007

Thanks. And, we agree.

I don't know who came up with this incredibly stupid idea that the military was going to impose "democracy" on other people at the point of a gun, but it one of stupidest ideas that ever came down the pike.

[smirk5]

Early on the morning of Nov. 13, 2006, members of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group gathered around a dark wooden conference table in the windowless Roosevelt Room of the White House.

For more than an hour, they listened to President Bush give what one panel member called a "Churchillian" vision of "victory" in Iraq and defend the country's prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki. "A constitutional order is emerging," he said.

Later that morning, around the same conference table, CIA Director Michael V. Hayden painted a starkly different picture for members of the study group. Hayden said "the inability of the government to govern seems irreversible," adding that he could not "point to any milestone or checkpoint where we can turn this thing around," according to written records of his briefing and the recollections of six participants.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19719435/