We knew that!

Report says war on terror is fueling al Qaeda

LONDON (Reuters) - Six years after the September 11 attacks in the United States, the "war on terror" is failing and instead fueling an increase in support for extremist Islamist movements, a British think-tank said on Monday.

A report by the Oxford Research Group (ORG) said a "fundamental re-think is required" if the global terrorist network is to be rendered ineffective.

"If the al Qaeda movement is to be countered, then the roots of its support must be understood and systematically undercut," said Paul Rogers, the report's author and professor of global peace studies at Bradford University in northern England.

"Combined with conventional policing and security measures, al Qaeda can be contained and minimized but this will require a change in policy at every level."

He described the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq as a "disastrous mistake" which had helped establish a "most valued jihadist combat training zone" for al Qaeda supporters.

The report -- Alternatives to the War on Terror -- recommended the immediate withdrawal of all foreign troops from Iraq coupled with intensive diplomatic engagement in the region, including with Iran and Syria.

In Afghanistan, Rogers also called for an immediate scaling down of military activities, an injection of more civil aid and negotiations with militia groups aimed at bringing them into the political process.

If such measures were adopted it would still take "at least 10 years to make up for the mistakes made since 9/11."

Are we safer today than we were on 9/10? The answer is obviously no. Iraq has gone from being an unfriendly place for al-Qaeda to a virtual graduate school. The Taliban and al-Qaeda are getting stronger in Afghanistan. The Taliban and al-Qaeda control even more of Pakistan. The US military is run down and bogged down and would be hard pressed to respond to another serious threat to the United States. World wide terrorism is up not down. This all a result of the Bush/Cheney cabals inept and ill conceived "war on terror".