Bush admin tacitly admits terrorism is getting worse

[priller]

Of course, they're not actually saying that, they're just "shifting the focus" of their anti-terrorism efforts. But the reason for this shift is the creation of so many well-trained terrorists coming out of Iraq and going to other countries.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/28/AR2005052801171_pf.html

The Bush administration has launched a high-level internal review of its efforts to battle international terrorism, aimed at moving away from a policy that has stressed efforts to capture and kill al Qaeda leaders since Sept. 11, 2001, and toward what a senior official called a broader "strategy against violent extremism."

<snip>

Much of the discussion has focused on how to deal with the rise of a new generation of terrorists, schooled in Iraq over the past couple years. Top government officials are increasingly turning their attention to anticipate what one called "the bleed out" of hundreds or thousands of Iraq-trained jihadists back to their home countries throughout the Middle East and Western Europe. "It's a new piece of a new equation," a former senior Bush administration official said. "If you don't know who they are in Iraq, how are you going to locate them in Istanbul or London?"

In other words, the so-called "fly paper" strategy is not working, if it ever was. We're not "fighting them there so they won't come here", as Bush again said last week. We're simply providing real-world training for a new and deadly generation of terrorists.

And, of course, it wouldn't be a Bush plan without PR:

Another key aspect is likely to be the addition of public diplomacy efforts aimed at winning over Arab public sentiment, and State Department official Paul Simons said at a congressional hearing earlier this month that the "internal deliberative process" was broadly conceived to encompass everything from further crackdowns on terrorist financing networks to policies aimed at curbing the teaching of holy war against the West and other "tools with respect to the global war on terrorism."

While there's Abu Ghraib and Gitmo and Koran flushing and sexual humiliation and torture and continued bombings and killings, well, good luck with that one.

[rfranklin]

1. The George W. Bush School of Terrorism located in Iraq....

Created by George W. Bush in 2003 as a university for training terrorists, the School of Terrorism (SOT) has placed graduates in countries around the world.

[Imagine My Surprise]

2. and if memory serves me...

it was not TOO long ago, that this was the ONLY thing the "pollsters" found among those who gave Bush high marks.

[Coastie for Truth]

3. And the US has been subsidizing the terrorists

Read "House of Bush, House of Saud : The Secret Relationship Between the World's Two Most Powerful Dynasties" by Craig Unger and go the the .

[mcscajun]

4. Shovel, please!

They're throwing endless amount of words up as a way of avoiding having to say: we were wrong.

And anyone out there with a memory and a functioning brain will recognize the BS for what it is.

We have SUCH a pathetic excuse for a government right now; if it weren't so horrifyingly tragic, it would be embarrassing.

[Skidmore]

5. * and cronies took extremist fringe groups worldwide and elevated them

to the world stage. He created an environment in which these groups were validated and were allowed to play at will.

[cliss]

6. That's our man.

I think Randi Rhodes said it best: "How can you wage a war against an emotion?" A very good point.

Actually, I doubt they ever felt they could wage war on terror and win. It was an expedient 3-letter "soundbite" which served their purposes. "Always use abstractions", says George Bush.

RumsFailed also said recently that the war on terror could not be won. He said it carefully, not to cause any crises, but to paraphase he said something like, "We're aware that this war is difficult to win; in fact it may be unwinnable". (paraphrased)