Careful, Iraq may be key to al-Qaida July 22, 2007
BY STEVE HUNTLEY
The Iraq war critics seized upon a new intelligence report that al-Qaida has been rejuvenated by the Iraq war as proof that the invasion of Iraq was a distraction from the war on terror. OK, that should be good for a few minutes of bashing President Bush, but it doesn't change the reality that al-Qaida is in Iraq and is our enemy.
Here's another thought: What would be the reaction of the quit-Iraq advocates should al-Qaida in Iraq's fingerprints be found in a terrorist attack in America?
This is not an idle question. After all, the National Intelligence Estimate released last week also said Osama bin Laden's organization will "probably seek to leverage the contacts and capabilities of al-Qaida in Iraq, its most visible and capable affiliate and the only one known to have expressed a desire to attack the Homeland." Furthermore, the 9/11 Commission has said another attack on America by Islamist terrorists is inevitable, and a new threat assessment a week ago from the National Counterterrorism Center suggested al-Qaida is working to renew attacks on America. Now we're told al-Qaida in Iraq could be the agent for it.
No doubt, even as the bodies were being recovered, the wounded treated and survivors consoled, the implacable Bush haters would blame his policies for an attack by al-Qaida in Iraq. But what would be the view of the majority of Americans who have been telling pollsters that it's time for America to withdraw the troops from Iraq?
It seems reasonable to conclude in the aftermath of another mega-attack that Americans would come to agree with bin Laden and al-Qaida that the central front in the war between America and Islamist terrorism is in Iraq, despite the serious challenges in Afghanistan and Pakistan. If so, they might decide that defeating al-Qaida requires more troops, not fewer, and not just in Iraq but Afghanistan as well. And support for the much-maligned Patriot Act would grow.
Those would not be unnatural responses. For example, in Europe the bungled car bomb attacks in London and Glasgow have governments looking at Patriot Act-like measures. German officials talked about increased surveillance and preventive detentions before worries about the country's Nazi history forced them to retreat somewhat. The BBC reports the head of Britain's association of police chiefs has suggested the terrorism threat means that suspects should be held "for as long as it takes."
As the 9/11 attack has receded in memory and bitterness grown over Iraq, we've seen signs Americans have been shifting back to 9/10 thinking, swinging back toward the notion that terrorism is a criminal issue. The problem with that view is that while terrorist attacks may resemble criminal acts in many ways, the intention and effects are dramatically different. A criminal's goal is make an illegal profit from society; a terrorist's goal is attack the very fabric of society, to destroy the social and economic order.
Remember how the economy shut down in the days after 9/11? Six years later Chicago hasn't completely recovered. The Tribune reports Chicago's convention and trade show agency, the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, still suffers from a "debt-service pinch [that] stems from the hospitality industry's tailspin after the 9/11 terrorist attacks."
There are those who dismiss the latest intelligence estimate as a Bush scare tactic to bolster support for his Iraq policy. But no one disputes the central thrust of the report -- al-Qaida remains determined to strike at the heart of American again, maybe through its Iraqi affiliate. That last part certainly complicates arguments that we should get out of Iraq.
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