US press unmoved by terror report

Most US papers agree the release of the extracts from the National Intelligence Estimate report which finds that US involvement in Iraq has fuelled global terrorism does not reveal anything new.

NEW YORK TIMES

The US press debates the US presence in Iraq

The three declassified pages from what is certainly a voluminous report told us what any American with a newspaper, television or internet connection should already know. The invasion of Iraq was a cataclysmic disaster. The current situation will get worse if American forces leave. Unfortunately, neither the report nor the president provide even a glimmer of a suggestion about how to avoid that inevitable disaster.

As a defence of his policies, it [the extract] serves only to highlight the maddening circular logic that passes for a White House rationale. It goes like this: The invasion of Iraq has created an entire new army of terrorists who will be emboldened by an American withdrawal. Therefore, the United States has to stay indefinitely and keep fighting those terrorists.

By that logic, the more the United States fights, the longer the war stretches on.

USA TODAY

At one level, the NIE merely states the obvious. So obvious, in fact, that it's hard to understand why most of the 'key judgments' were classified in the first place. Whether it was right or wrong to invade Iraq, the war has unquestionably intensified global anger toward the USA and made the world a more dangerous place.

While the intelligence estimate may give satisfaction to the administration's critics, it does not follow that the proper course now in Iraq is prompt US withdrawal. The NIE notes, correctly, that defeating the jihadists in Iraq would weaken the worldwide movement. The day may come when it's worse for US forces to stay than go; by the accounts of those on the ground, that day has not arrived but might be approaching.

WASHINGTON POST

What specifically does it mean to say that the Iraq war has worsened the "terrorism threat"? Presumably, the NIE's authors would admit that this is speculation rather than a statement of fact, since the facts suggest otherwise.

Since the Iraq war started, there have not been any successful terrorist attacks against the United States. That doesn't mean the threat has diminished because of the Iraq war, but it does place the burden of proof on those who argue that it has increased.

BOSTON GLOBE

It was he [President Bush] who justified a pre-emptive war to overthrow Saddam Hussein by depicting it as part of a larger struggle against the terrorism of al-Qaeda and affiliated networks. Stop them there, or we'll have to fight them here, he said.

It will be healthy for political discourse in the run-up to the November elections if the declassified National Intelligence Estimate clears the air of White House propaganda. The issue of what to do about Iraq will be hard enough to resolve without Bush's pretence that a key reason for prolonging the occupation of that Muslim country is to discourage jihadist groups preaching holy war against the crusader West.

LA TIMES

Bush's assertion, along with his decision to release portions of the same report in response to the leaks, were the clearest signs yet that the ongoing debate over the Iraq war and its effect on US security has grown to a fever pitch as Republicans and Democrats struggle to shape public opinion before election day.

With Congress entering its final days before adjourning for the fall election campaign, the two parties are fighting over which image will be uppermost in voters' minds [in mid-term elections] on 7 Nov: that the US has taken the terrorism challenge head-on by invading Iraq, or that the invasion and its bloody aftermath have left the United States less safe.

MIAMI HERALD

When you're in a hole, the first thing to do is stop digging. The report is a challenge to the Bush administration to come up with new ideas because the patience of Americans is wearing thin. They understand that the US commitment in Iraq is vital to our security and the security of the region. But the commitment is not open-ended.