Al Qaeda's Renewed Strength
The left tried to seize on a report that Al Qaeda has reached its pre-9/11 strength levels as evidence that the war on terror is failing. In fact, the explanation is much simpler:
The threat assessment says that Al Qaeda stepped up efforts to "improve its core operational capability" in late 2004 but did not succeed until December of 2006 after the Pakistani government signed a peace agreement with tribal leaders that effectively removed government military presence from the northwest frontier with Afghanistan.
The agreement allows Taliban and Al Qaeda operatives to move across the border with impunity and establish and run training centers, the report says, according to the official.
From these facts, it's not entirely clear to me how Barack Obama has come to conclude that "This war has only fueled the terrorist threat whose strength is now at pre-9/11 levels.”
Those who care to look at the facts will understand what the problem is. The question is what we're going to do about it.
The threat assessment says that Al Qaeda stepped up efforts to "improve its core operational capability" in late 2004 but did not succeed until December of 2006 after the Pakistani government signed a peace agreement with tribal leaders that effectively removed government military presence from the northwest frontier with Afghanistan.
The agreement allows Taliban and Al Qaeda operatives to move across the border with impunity and establish and run training centers, the report says, according to the official.
From these facts, it's not entirely clear to me how Barack Obama has come to conclude that "This war has only fueled the terrorist threat whose strength is now at pre-9/11 levels.”
Those who care to look at the facts will understand what the problem is. The question is what we're going to do about it.
posted by LadybugUSA at 9:29 AM
1 Comments:
The President addressed this:
There is a perception in the coverage that al Qaeda may be as strong today as they were prior to September the 11th. That's just simply not the case. I think the report will say, since 2001, not prior to September the 11th, 2001.
Secondly, that because of the actions we have taken, al Qaeda is weaker today than they would have been. They are still a threat. They are still dangerous. And that is why it is important that we succeed in Afghanistan and Iraq and anywhere else we find them. That's our strategy, is to stay on the offense against al Qaeda.
Full Transcript from Jul 12 2007 press conference
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