Tuesday, September 26, 2006
The President Strikes Back – Highlights of the Declassified NIE Conclusions [Mario Loyola]
I have to suppress a chuckle as I quote the key clause in the NIE for purpose of the Times' foray into asymmetric Election '06 propaganda warfare:
The Iraq conflict has become the cause celebre for jihadists, breeding a deep resentment of US involvement in the Muslim world and cultivating supporters for the global jihadist movement. Should jihadists leaving Iraq perceive themselves, and be perceived, to have failed, we judge fewer fighters will be inspired to carry on the fight.
In retrospect I am so glad that the Times suppressed the second sentence in this finding and thus assumed poll-position in the race to go down as the Official Laughinstock of the '06 Election. Here's more:
If democratic reform efforts in Muslim majority nations progress over the next five years, political participation probably would drive a wedge between intransigent extremists and groups willing to use the political process to achieve their local objectives. Nonetheless, attendant reforms and potentially destabilizing transitions will create new opportunities for jihadists to exploit.
So, in essence the NIE judges that the Democrats' proposal to leave Iraq's democracy to its own devices would eliminate the major opportunities it sees for diminishing the jihadi movement. Nice.
09/26 06:02 PM
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