Contrary to frothing media reports boldly stating that our actions in Iraq are making terrorism worse, the now famous NIE includes a ringing endorsement for victory in Iraq:
Should jihadists leaving Iraq perceive themselves, and be perceived, to have failed, we judge fewer fighteres will be inspired to carry on the fight.
While the report does note that there is an increase in terrorists, does that really come as a surprise? For heaven's sake, we are at war with them. Did we expect that they wouldn't attempt to fight back? In any case, far from laying the blame at the feet of the war in Iraq, the NIE includes a host of reasons for the spread of jihad: grievances, fear of the west, lack of substantive reforms in the region, and pervasive anti-U.S. sentiment, to name a few.
The report also goes on to state that we have done "serious damage" to al Qaeda. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm quite sure a considerable amount of that damage was a product of operations in Iraq.
Far from the "nail in the coffin" that knee-jerk liberals and unhinged media portray the NIE to be, it is a reasonable assessment of the state of jihad. For those who think that the methods of fighting back have produced more terrorism, what did you expect?
That suggests that by doing nothing we could ultimately alleviate terrorism. Doing nothing was exactly what we did through the 90's and into the 21st century. In fact, that's what we did right up until Sept. 11, 2001.
While some might be stupid enough to believe that America and its efforts in Iraq are the primary breeder of terrorism, I am not.
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