(cross-posted to The Agonist)
Report: Al Qaeda may use Iraq operatives to attack U.S.
Intelligence Report Warns of al-Qaeda’s Capabilities
Report Cites Continued Qaeda Threat
National Intel Estimate: Al Qaeda Iraq Operatives Could Launch Attacks In US
FBI: Iraqis Being Smuggled Across the Rio Grande
WASHINGTON (CNN) — Al Qaeda will try to tap its allies and resources in Iraq in its efforts to exact another terrorist attack on U.S. soil, according to a top government intelligence report released Tuesday. Officials have expressed concern in the past that the Iraq war is providing a theater for al Qaeda to train insurgents and test the terror network’s capabilities.
Interesting, isn’t it? Official Washington seems all atwitter because Al Qaeda is supposedly stronger than ever, especially since they’re allegedly using Iraq as a laboratory to hone their murderous techniques, strategies, and weaponry. And who, pray tell, is responsible for this situation even existing in Iraq to begin with?? Hmm??
Don’t worry…I’ll wait….
OK…well, for those of you having trouble deciphering the what-should-be-blindingly-obvious answer to this question, I’ll make it easy for you. the person responsible for the creation of the very terrorist threat that the survival of the Fatherland Homeland now must fight to the death is none other than Our Glorious and Benevolent Leader © .
That’s right; there was no terrorist threat in Iraq prior to the American invasion/occupation in March, 2003. The threat, you see, was actually in Afghanistan…but fighting that war would have detracted from achieving the neoConservative agenda, which had the removal of Saddam Hussein from power as it’s cornerstone. Of course, Saddam Hussein was a bad man, and if anyone ever needed killing, he would’ve been right at the top of the list. Sadly for us, being a bad man is an extremely poor reason for going to war against a sovereign nation- especially one that had exhibited no overtly aggressive behavior toward us. Nonetheless, the neoCons wanted Saddam gone, and since The Worst President EVER © exists largely to do the bidding of trolls like William Kristol and Richard Scaife, invade Iraq is exactly what he did.
Of course, if you had the opportunity to listen to White House Propaganda Mistress spokesperson Frances Townsend, you’re probably thinking that we just saved Iraq from itself. Yes, indeed; without The Decider’s © decisive and prescient leadership, surely Al Qaeda terrorists would certainly be blowing up shopping malls and Starbucks all across our great nation. Just try getting your cappucino when the guy in line in front of you is wearing a far-too-bulky jacket in the middle of July.
White House Homeland Security Adviser Fran Townsend asserts President Bush’s claim that al Qaeda “is on the run” is still applicable.
On one hand, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff says just days before this report he has a “gut feeling” there could be a summer terrorist attack in America. But on the other hand, Townsend reiterates Chertoff’s claim that there’s “no specific, credible threat” against the United States right now.
Adding further confusion, this report re-ignites the ferocious debate over whether the war in Iraq took the president’s eye off the broader war on terror….
Oh, the humanity! Could it be possible that King George the Worst © took his eye off the ball and was distracted long enough that he thought the REAL terrorist threat was actually in Iraq? Damn the bad luck….
In the meantime, couldn’t y’all at least do the patriotic thing and be experiencing the worst sort of bowel-loosening fear?
“But you are assuming this a zero sum game, which is what I don’t understand,” Townsend said. “The fact is we were harassing them in Afghanistan, we are harassing them in Iraq, we are harassing them in other ways non-military around the world, and the answer is every time you poke the hornets’ nest they are bound to come back and push back on you, that doesn’t suggest to me that we shouldn’t be doing it.”
It’s interesting Townsend used the phrase “hornets’ nest,” a configuration that critics have used to attack the war.
Another argument now under attack is the President’s claim that Iraq is the “central front in the war on terror,” when this report and others suggest that Pakistan is a safe haven for al Qaeda.
The reality is that IF Iraq is indeed the “central front in the war on terror”, it’s because Commander Codpiece © made it exactly that. Immediately after 9.11, we hit Afghanistan, because that was where the available intelligence indicated those responsible for the attacks were. We blew the $#!& out of a LOT of Afghan real estate, and if we had continued, we might have stood a chance of success. Instead, American troops, resources, and propaganda were directed towards Iraq.
Richard Clarke has stated on many occasions (and in a book) that immediately after 9.11, the Administration was determined to find a way to connect Iraq to the attacks. The fact that there was no Iraqi connection was beside the point- Iraq was to be made into Public Enemy #1. Saddam Hussein tried to take out Our Glorious and Benevolent Leader’s © father…and so he had to go. The rest, as the saying goes, is history…or, as is the case so often when it comes to this Administration, propaganda.
This war is and never has been about terrorism. It was and never will be about protecting the Homeland from a vague, ill-defined terrorist threat. What it IS about is greed, avarice, and revenge- none of which have anything at all to do with Homeland Security. Then again, as long as this Administration and it’s apologists can keep the American sheeple scared, they can pretty much do whatever they please.
Jeebus, we really are a nation of sheep, aren’t we??
