Regis Philbin
Sep 24th, 2006, 09:16 PM
Good ol' New York Times again...
http://reuters.myway.com/article/20060924/2006-09-24T230854Z_01_N23197513_RTRIDST_0_NEWS-SECURITY-TERRORISM-DC.html
White House: Account of Iraq report incomplete
Sep 24, 7:08 PM (ET)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A newspaper report that a U.S. intelligence analysis found that the Iraq war gave rise to a new generation of Islamic radicals and made the overall terrorism problem worse was "not representative of the complete document," the White House said on Sunday.
The New York Times reported that a classified National Intelligence Estimate completed in April said Islamic radicalism had mushroomed worldwide and cited the Iraq war as a reason for the spread of jihadist ideology.
It was the first formal appraisal of global terrorism by U.S. intelligence agencies since the Iraq war began in March 2003 and represents a consensus view of the 16 spy services.
"The New York Times' characterization of the NIE is not representative of the complete document," said White House spokesman Peter Watkins.
He declined to comment on information contained in the classified document.
U.S. intelligence chief John Negroponte said news reports on the NIE characterize "only a small handful" of the conclusions from a broad strategic assessment of global terrorism.
"The conclusions of the intelligence community are designed to be comprehensive and viewing them through the narrow prism of a fraction of judgments distorts the broad framework they create," Negroponte said in a statement.
Negroponte said the analysis found that if the U.S. effort to establish a stable government in Iraq succeeded, jihadists would be weakened and "fewer jihadists will leave Iraq determined to carry on the fight elsewhere."
President George W. Bush has steadfastly insisted that his decision to invade Iraq was the right action to take to head off a potential threat.
http://reuters.myway.com/article/20060924/2006-09-24T230854Z_01_N23197513_RTRIDST_0_NEWS-SECURITY-TERRORISM-DC.html
White House: Account of Iraq report incomplete
Sep 24, 7:08 PM (ET)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A newspaper report that a U.S. intelligence analysis found that the Iraq war gave rise to a new generation of Islamic radicals and made the overall terrorism problem worse was "not representative of the complete document," the White House said on Sunday.
The New York Times reported that a classified National Intelligence Estimate completed in April said Islamic radicalism had mushroomed worldwide and cited the Iraq war as a reason for the spread of jihadist ideology.
It was the first formal appraisal of global terrorism by U.S. intelligence agencies since the Iraq war began in March 2003 and represents a consensus view of the 16 spy services.
"The New York Times' characterization of the NIE is not representative of the complete document," said White House spokesman Peter Watkins.
He declined to comment on information contained in the classified document.
U.S. intelligence chief John Negroponte said news reports on the NIE characterize "only a small handful" of the conclusions from a broad strategic assessment of global terrorism.
"The conclusions of the intelligence community are designed to be comprehensive and viewing them through the narrow prism of a fraction of judgments distorts the broad framework they create," Negroponte said in a statement.
Negroponte said the analysis found that if the U.S. effort to establish a stable government in Iraq succeeded, jihadists would be weakened and "fewer jihadists will leave Iraq determined to carry on the fight elsewhere."
President George W. Bush has steadfastly insisted that his decision to invade Iraq was the right action to take to head off a potential threat.