Intelligence Report Reflects Grim Reality
According to sources familiar with the document, the latest national intelligence estimate paints a bleak picture for Iraq, one that most of us have already come to know from simply following the news. The summary of information from across the intelligence community says that the situation is perilous, the U.S. has little control and the major cause of violence is not al-Qaida but fighting among Iraqis.According to sources familiar with the document, the latest national intelligence estimate paints a bleak picture for Iraq, one that most of us have already come to know from simply following the news. The summary of information from across the intelligence community says that the situation is perilous, the U.S. has little control and the major cause of violence is not al-Qaida but fighting among Iraqis.
Your support matters…Washington Post:
A long-awaited National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq, presented to President Bush by the intelligence community yesterday, outlines an increasingly perilous situation in which the United States has little control and there is a strong possibility of further deterioration, according to sources familiar with the document.
In a discussion of whether Iraq has reached a state of civil war, the 90-page classified NIE comes to no conclusion and holds out prospects of improvement. But it couches glimmers of optimism in deep uncertainty about whether the Iraqi leaders will be able to transcend sectarian interests and fight against extremists, establish effective national institutions and end rampant corruption.
The document emphasizes that although al-Qaeda activities in Iraq remain a problem, they have been surpassed by Iraqi-on-Iraqi violence as the primary source of conflict and the most immediate threat to U.S. goals. Iran, which the administration has charged with supplying and directing Iraqi extremists, is mentioned but is not a focus.
Independent journalism is under threat and overshadowed by heavily funded mainstream media.
You can help level the playing field. Become a member.
Your tax-deductible contribution keeps us digging beneath the headlines to give you thought-provoking, investigative reporting and analysis that unearths what's really happening- without compromise.
Give today to support our courageous, independent journalists.
Trump has lifted restraints on field commanders and let the military send more personnel to the Middle East.
Key to Barack Obama's surge is his expansion of targeted assassinations taking place under the guise of unmanned aerial drones operating in the Af-Pak region. Obama's senseless Afghanistan strategy will expand the use of targeted assassinations by aerial drones.
Something just doesn't add up about the stated logic of sending 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan, says Jamal Dajani, who has a theory about the president's real reason for escalating the war.
Even if the surge works, why wouldn't al-Qaida -- or some like-minded group -- simply set up shop in Somalia? Or in Yemen, another failing state?
The other "peace candidate" in the 2008 Democratic primary isn't thrilled with the president's order to radically escalate the war in Afghanistan, no matter if there's an exit strategy: "What are we going to learn in 18 months that we haven't already learned in the last eight years?"Rep. Dennis Kucinich asks: "What are we going to learn in 18 months that we haven't already learned in the last eight years?"
You need to be a supporter to comment.
There are currently no responses to this article.
Be the first to respond.