Administration's Oct. 9 al-Qaeda lie laid bare today by the Joint Special Operation Command in Iraq

[bigtree]

THE White House, on Oct. 9, came out with a refashioned 'counterterrorism strategy' which warned of a strengthened al-Qaeda still determined to attack the U.S. with weapons of mass destruction. The administration report concluded that al-Qaeda is enjoying "safe haven" in the tribal areas of Pakistan, and claimed that those in Iraq who identify themselves as al-Qaeda are the most likely and capable branch of the terrorist organization to carry out the threats they describe.

"Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia is "the group's most visible and capable affiliate and the only one known to have expressed a desire to attack us here," the report said."

Fran Townsend, the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, put the administration spin on the report, which warned of of a strengthened al-Qaeda, saying, "There is no question now that you see, and we know by their own words, by bin Laden's and Zawahiri's own statements, they view the battle in Iraq as a fundamental battle for them . . . "So we face them there," she said.

Today, six days later, the Pentagon has declared virtual victory over the 'al-Qaeda in Iraq' threat the White house called the "most visible and capable affiliate and the only one known to have expressed a desire to attack us here."

WaPo has reported that Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, head of the Joint Special Operations Command's operations in Iraq -- described as "the chief promoter of a victory declaration" -- "believes that 'al-Qaeda in Iraq' has been all but eliminated."

Mission accomplished. Bring our troops home.

[TomInTib]

1. Just this morning, CNN was saying that the Pentagon was not quite ready...

to release that report.

Things must have gotten a lot better during the day, I suppose.

[bigtree]

2. I changed that

"Administration's Oct. 9 al-Qaeda lie laid bare today by the Joint Special Operation Command in Iraq"

I need an editor.

[OHdem10]

3. Is this a maneuver to unite the country against Iran thus

keeping the Occupation of Iraq going for ten years.Proxy War with Iran??

Tom Ricks, WAPO, broke the stroy about AlQeda being on the downward
trail. Yet Ricks stated on Hardball--He believes we will be in Iraq
for about 10 years.

Killcullen, Australian Counterterrorism Specialist and Consultant
to US Military---has been making the rounds starting with C Rose,
C-Span over the Weekend--makes the best case of anyone I have
heard(maybe I just like the accent) explaining the Surge, and
how it is going to require 10 years more(if we are lucky, we
might be able to do serious drawdowns in 5 years.

LT. Gen Sanchez: after all his explanations of why things went
wrong--still says the country needs to unite and back the
operations---it is going to take years.

I could go on and listing the people who always leave us with
the 10 year time frame. These are just the past 2 days.

If we will not be fighting AlQeda, then is it Iran??? Just
asking???

Think about it???

[bigtree]

4. Iran's their next card

Then join with Turkey against the Kurdish rebels and 'liberate' the Kurdish oil fields.

[bigtree]

5. plip