Taylor Marsh – TaylorMarsh.com – News, Opinion and Weblog on Progressive Politics

He used the words Al Qaeda “93 times in 29 minutes,” according
to CNN. It’s the latest push by President Bush to inflate the enemy in Iraq,
while ignoring the reality of what we’re facing from these thugs and exactly
where that threat is dug in. His recent speech was not only an insult to our
intelligence, but was so filled with propaganda that you have to wonder if Mr.
Bush has so convinced himself of his own terrorist fantasies that he’s willing
to put this nation in further danger by prolonging his abdication as commander
in chief to actually do something about what’s been brewing on the Pakistani
– Afghan border.

Some also assert that al Qaida in Iraq is a separate organization because al Qaida’s central command lacks full operational control over it. This argument reveals a lack of understanding. Here is how al Qaida’s global terrorist network actually operates. … .. – President Bush

George W. Bush telling anyone how al Qaida works should come with a laugh track.

Let the experts speak.

In rare testimony before two House committees, Edward Gistaro, the national intelligence officer for transnational threats, said that Al Qaeda terrorists operating in South Asia are better equipped to attack the United States than the network’s followers in Iraq are. Asked which arm of Al Qaeda concerned him the most, Gistaro told a joint session of the House armed services and intelligence panels that it was South Asia. “The primary concern is in Al Qaeda in South Asia organizing its own plots against the United States,” he said. Al Qaeda planned the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks from its bases in Afghanistan. The top leaders of the terrorist network, Gistaro added, are “able to exploit the comfort zone in the tribal areas” of Pakistan and Afghanistan and are “bringing people in to train for Western operations.” “We see increased efforts on the part of Al Qaeda to try and find, train, and deploy people who could get into this country,” he testified. … .. Analyst counters Bush on Al Qaeda Says biggest threat is in S. Asia, not Iraq

To put a finer point on our reality, which Mr. Bush continues to ignore to
our peril, Army Major General David Rodriguez, commander of the 82d Airborne
Division, drives the point home: “It’s (al Qaeda) increased probably 50 to 60
percent over what it was last year . . . and they come from multiple areas in
the Middle East.”

Rand Beers’ National Security Network offers an even fuller picture: It’s
Pakistan.

But on Mr. Bush blathers, propaganda
at the ready, facts stacked up around his feet, making sure to prop up his escalation
in Iraq. Remember Mr. Bush’s national security negligence next time we’re hit. Because we will be hit. Bush’s determination to escalate his foreign policy blunders in Iraq, while the larger, more dangerous planners of al Qaeda in Pakistan plot
in peace will come back to haunt us all long after he’s back at Crawford clearing brush.