The National Intelligence Council* just issued Mapping the Global Future: Report of the National Intelligence Council’s 2020 Project.
Significant among its findings: Iraq is a training ground for terrorists.
"The al-Qa’ida membership that was distinguished by having trained in Afghanistan will gradually dissipate, to be replaced in part by the dispersion of the experienced survivors of the conflict in Iraq."
"Iraq and other possible conflicts in the future could provide recruitment, training grounds, technical skills and language proficiency for a new class of terrorists who are “professionalized†and for whom political violence becomes an end in itself."
Let’s not forget: prior to this war, islamic fundamentalist activity in Iraq was limited to a small group of Iranian-supported jihadists occupying a small sliver of the country, outside of Saddam’s control. (Saddam and the Islamic fundamentalists hated each other–remember the Iran/Iraq war?)
So much for making the world a safer place. It’s time to put some true conservatives in office.
* "The National Intelligence Council (NIC) is the Intelligence Community’s (IC’s) center for midterm and long-term strategic thinking." It operates under the purview of the CIA, and incorporates intelligence estimates from all the U.S. intelligence agencies.