© the eyeranian

How is the war on terror going?

Here's my fictitious interview with this country's top 3 men in charge of intelligence as over 2.5 years has passed since the president declared war on terrorism as the nation's top priority and billions has since been spent in this war to eradicate a group of religious fanatics who took it upon themselves to take away thousands of innocent lives and assault our common conscience:

(Text and quotes borrowed from various reports of Tuesdays hearing at Senate Intelligence Committee, out of context and incomplete, but actual quotes)

Q - We set our sights originally on Usama Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda, how is that war going?

A - CIA Director George Tenet: "The steady growth of Osama bin Laden's anti-U.S. sentiment through the wider Sunni extremist movement, and the broad dissemination of al-Qaida's destructive expertise, ensure that a serious threat will remain for the foreseeable future, with or without al-Qaida in the picture,"

Q - Are you saying that Al-Qaeda has in fact weakened or is even wiped out?

A - "Al-Qaida has spread its radical agenda to other groups that now pose the leading threat to the United States"..."dozens of smaller Islamic extremist organizations with ties to al-Qaida have emerged"

Q - But after 2.5 years, I'm sure we have been able to cause considerable damage to their infrastructure, making it impossible for them to pose any serious threat. right?

A - "al-Qaeda networks are still capable of "Catastrophic Attacks" on US targets" and it "still is capable of carrying out assaults on the scale of Sept. 11, 2001."

Q - But I am certain we have been able to stop them from operating in this country, correct?

A - FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III: "al-Qaida has retained a "cadre of supporters" within the United States to develop plots and carry out instructions."

Q - The President has claimed that U.S. invasion of Iraq will cut down on terrorism and promote democracy in the region. How are we doing with Iraq?

A - Lowell E. Jacoby, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency: "Iraq has the potential to serve as a training ground for the next generation of terrorists where novice recruits develop their skills, junior operatives hone their organizational and planning capabilities, and relations mature between individuals and groups."

Q - These are those pesky Shiites we have always had a problem with?

A - Jacoby: "Iraq is the latest jihad for Sunni extremists," Tenet: "Jihadists hope for a Taliban-like enclave in Iraq's Sunni heartland that could be a jihadist safe haven."

Q - You think our large military presence there helps in controlling these groups then?

A - "The threat, goes beyond these groups to individual jihadists, or holy warriors, who see the presence of 120,000 U.S. troops in Iraq as a golden opportunity."

Q - But are we winning the hearts of the people in the region, particularly our Muslim allies?

A - Jacoby: "Favorable ratings (for the United States) in Morocco declined from 77 percent in 2000 to 27 percent in spring of last year, and in Jordan from 25 percent in 2002 to only 1 percent in May 2003... Support in the Muslim world for the U.S.-led war on terrorism and for the United States itself has plunged even in countries considered friendly, fueling radical Islam and opposition to pro-U.S. regimes."

Posted by Pedram at February 26, 2004 02:58 AM