Stating the obvious

Both the New York Times and the Washington Post have the conclusions of the National Intelligence Estimate on their front pages this morning.

Spy Agencies Say Iraq War Hurting U.S. Terror Fight

The war in Iraq has become a primary recruitment vehicle for violent Islamic extremists, motivating a new generation of potential terrorists around the world whose numbers may be increasing faster than the United States and its allies can reduce the threat, U.S. intelligence analysts have concluded.

A 30-page National Intelligence Estimate completed in April cites the "centrality" of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, and the insurgency that has followed, as the leading inspiration for new Islamic extremist networks and cells that are united by little more than an anti-Western agenda. It concludes that, rather than contributing to eventual victory in the global counterterrorism struggle, the situation in Iraq has worsened the U.S. position, according to officials familiar with the classified document.

Of course this is not really news but it is significant coming at a time when it is obvious that the lunatics in the Bush administration are planning an attack on Iran. Yes the same cabal that has been wrong about everything else is about to make another mistake that will be tantamount to throwing gasoline on an already blazing fire.

Rick Moran asks DOES CONFRONTING TERRORISM MAKE IT WORSE? The short answer is no but if you look at the way the Bush/Cheney cabal has confronted terrorism the answer has to be yes. If the US had finished the job in Afghanistan instead of pulling most of the resources for a personal grudge match in Iraq the US and the world would be a safer place today. The administration may have has multiple reasons for invading Iraq but none of them involved the so called "war on terror" or national security. The fact that they did nearly everything wrong after the invasion complicated the situation. I have one question for those pushing an attack on Iran. Do you really trust this administration to do it right?