Bush, critics brawl over Iraq-terrorism link
By Lucy Huff,WNS Washington Correspondent
WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush and opposition Democrats traded blows in a bitter brawl over Iraq, set off by an explosive intelligence assessment which warned the war was fuelling terrorism. Each side accused the other of exploiting national security in a grab for votes in the fierce heat of the campaign for November's congressional elections, which will shape Bush's last two years in office.
The president blamed political motives for weekend media accounts of a National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) -- the consensus of all 16 US spy agencies -- that found that the Iraq war was swelling the ranks of global terror groups. Meanwhile, one senior Democrat accused the White House of suppressing a separate intelligence assessment focused solely on the unpopular war, which Bush's Republicans fear could cost them dearly on November 7. Bush fumed over the media reports about the NIE, which seemed to undermine his central political argument that the US-led March 2003 invasion of Iraq has made the US public safer from terrorism. "Somebody's taken it upon themselves to leak classified information for political purposes," said Bush, who charged that the purpose was "to create confusion in the minds of the American people."
Later Tuesday, he declassified portions of the report, which declared Iraq had become a "cause celebre" for global terror, "breeding a deep resentment of US involvement in the Muslim world and cultivating supporters for the global jihadist movement." But the assessment also appeared to back up Bush's contentions that US troops must stay on in Iraq. "Should jihadists leaving Iraq perceive themselves and be perceived to have failed, we judge fewer fighters will be inspired to carry on the fight," the assessment said. Bush denied claims by critics that America was less safe since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. "My judgment is, if we weren't in Iraq, they'd find some other excuse," said the president, who said releasing portions of the report would "stop all the speculation" and "gossip" linking Iraq and terrorism. Opposition Democrats had demanded the White House must release the entire document and other recent intelligence briefings on Iraq and the war on terrorism.
posted by wnsworld @ 9:20 AM
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